The six violin concertos offered here are among 30 or so that Vivaldi dedicated to Anna Maria, one of his most gifted pupils who went on to become one of his most important colleagues (she remained on staff at the Ospedale Della Pieta in Venice nearly 70 years until her death at the age of 86). As one would expect given his longstanding admiration of Anna, Vivaldi crafted these remarkably versatile, ravishing concertos not only to showcase the soloist’s apparently limitless expressive range and virtuosity, but he also loaded them with endearing personality and wit that often transcend the flash.
For instance, the humorous, “meowing cat” figures that lace the opening Allegro of RV 387 and the third-movement Allegro ma poco of RV 349 must’ve been as much fun for Anna to perform as they were a pleasure for her audience to listen to. With the equally delightful, extravagant ornamentation heard in the final Allegro of RV 387, opening Allegro of RV 343, and final Allegro of RV 366, you can almost sense Vivaldi’s glee not so much in simply challenging Anna, but also taking pride in providing material that fully complemented her imagination and technical abilities. The wild, equally sensational inner movement of RV 248, with its sharply delineated dynamic contrasts and tempo extremes, also is a stunner. If there’s another equally short movement that combines this many hyper-tempestuous and pensively quiet moments, I’ve yet to hear it!
L’Arte dell’Arco and the ensemble’s director/violin soloist Federico Guglielmo deliver remarkably convincing, stylistically and technically peerless performances. CPO’s SACD sound is quite good, though Guglielmo at times is placed noticeably forward in the mix. Nothing serious. In sum, this is an outstanding recording, strongly recommended, especially to those unfamiliar with the composer’s more playful, if not eccentric side. [2/13/2007]
