Working – and walking – my way through nearly 500 Vivaldi concertos during lockdown, I’ve whittled them down to a “top ten” playlist of my favourites. My only criteria were “no nicknames”, to encourage people to listen beyond the ubiquitous Four Seasons, and being able to locate suitably excellent performances.
1. Violin Concerto in E minor, RV273
Venice isn’t all about jollity and carnival. When I last visited, it was December and a fog shrouded much of the Piazza San Marco, creating a sinister atmosphere which suits this late E minor violin concerto. It’s had some great recent recordings (notably Alessandro Tampieri) but Giuliano Carmignola and the Venice Baroque Orchestra are outstanding.
2. Bassoon Concerto in D minor, RV481
Far from being the clown of the orchestra, Vivaldi treated the bassoon seriously and notched up 39 concertos for the instrument. Sergio Azzolini has recorded most of them and his playing simply dazzles. Listen to the aggression in the opening Allegro to this D minor concerto, or the sad lament in the Larghetto.
3. Lute Concerto in D major, RV93
This one is quite well known, rightly nabbed by generations of guitarists. Luca Pianca and Il Giardino Armonico give a zesty performance here, the very recording that, back in the 1990s, fuelled my love for this repertoire and demonstrated how Italian period instrument bands would become a force to be reckoned with.
4. Concerto for 2 cellos in G minor, RV531
I knew this double concerto reasonably well, an engaging dialogue for two cellos, but was bowled over by Ophélie Gaillard’s recent disc with Atsushki Sakai and the Pulcinella Orchestra. The close recording adds a touch of grit to proceedings. You can also see the rosin fly!
5. Violin Concerto in C major, RV177
This late C major violin concerto is packed with drama. The stormy first movement may sound familiar, as it was used in the sinfonia to Vivaldi’s opera L’Olimpiade. The Largo employs long cantabile lines, while the finale uses plenty of dramatic quasi-percussive effects in Dmitry Sinkovsky’s excellent account.
6. Concerto for Violin, 2 Oboes, Bassoon, 2 Horns in F major, RV569
This concerto is from a terrific disc by French ensemble Les Ambassadeurs of works written for the Dresden Hofkapelle or adapted by Vivaldi’s pupil Johann Georg Pisendel to encompass the orchestra’s expanded wind forces. The exuberant horns in this F major concerto are irresistible.
7. Violin Concerto in G minor, RV323
Amandine Beyer is one of my discoveries during this odyssey. Her playing is superb and this G minor concerto really packs a theatrical punch, part of an excellent disc entitled Teatro alla moda. She’s also recorded a fine disc of double concertos with Carmignola that I couldn’t quite squeeze into this playlist.
8. Concerto for 4 violins and cello in B minor, RV580
Vivaldi published several collections of concertos. The Four Seasons are part of a 12-concerto set entitled Il cimento dell’armonia e dell’inventione (The Contest Between Harmony and Invention), but of other collections L’estro armonico (The Harmonic Inspiration) is packed with great music, and not all for solo violin. The B minor concerto is one of the collection’s better known numbers, weaving together four violin lines.
9. Concerto for 2 violins in A minor, RV523
Vivaldi wrote 28 double concertos for two violins (some of which are incomplete). That in A minor, RV523, is one of the best. The outer movements are full of energetic vigour, but the central Largo is truly tender, wonderfully performed here by Dmitry Sinkovsky and Riccardo Minasi.
10. Violin Concerto in C major, RB181a
I simply had to include something from Federico Guglielmo and L’Arte dell’Arco who have provided such entertaining listening over the past few months. Their big box set of Op.1-12 concertos and sonatas is terrific, so I’ve gone for the opening violin concerto of La cetra (The Cittern, or Lyre). There’s no big orchestral ritornello here, just a cheeky little theme to set up the solo violin that has instant “earworm” potential.