Antonio Vivaldi: Musica da Camera e da Chiesa (Chamber & Church Music) - London Baroque

On this CD:

1. Sonata a 4 al Santo Sepolcro, for 2 violins, viola & continuo in E-flat major, RV 130
Composed by Antonio Vivaldi
Performed by London Baroque

2. Trio Sonata, for 2 violins & continuo in B flat major, Op. 1/10, RV 78
Composed by Antonio Vivaldi
Performed by London Baroque

3. Trio Sonata, for 2 violins & continuo in B flat major, Op. 1/10, RV 78
Composed by Antonio Vivaldi
Performed by London Baroque

4. Trio Sonata, for 2 violins & continuo in G minor, Op. 1/1, RV 73
Composed by Antonio Vivaldi
Performed by London Baroque

5. Cello Sonata, for cello & continuo No. 9 in G minor, RV 42
Composed by Antonio Vivaldi
Performed by London Baroque

6. Trio Sonata ("La follia"), for 2 violins & continuo in D minor Op. 1/12, RV 63
Composed by Antonio Vivaldi
Performed by London Baroque

7. Sinfonia al Santo Sepolcro, sonata for 2 violins, viola & continuo in B minor, RV 169
Composed by Antonio Vivaldi
Performed by London Baroque

Tracks:

I. Largo Molto
II. Allegro, Ma Poco
I. Preludio: Allegro
II. Allemanda: Allegro
III. Gavotta: Presto
I. Preludio: Andante
II. Corrente: Allegro
III. Adagio
IV. Giga: Allegro
I. Preludio: Grave
II. Allemanda: Allegro
III. Adagio
IV. Capricio: Allegro
V. Gavotta: Allegro
I. Preludio: Largo
II. Allemanda: Andante
III. Sarabanda: Largo
IV. Giga: Allegro
Tema: Adagio
Variazione I: Andante
Variazione II: Allegro
Variazione III
Variazione IV
Variazione V
Variazione VI
Variazione VII
Variazione VIII: Adagio
Variazione IX: Vivace
Variazione X: Allegro
Variazione XI: Larghetto
Variazione XII: Allegro
Variazione XIII
Variazione XIV: Adagio
Variazione XV: Allegro
Variazione XVI
Variazione XVII
Variazione XVIII
Variazione XIX
I. Adagio Molto
II. Allegro, Ma Poco

Customer Reviews:

Needs the Right Equipment not to Sound Harsh.......2005-03-27

Occasionally one comes across a CD (in my case, usually from Naxos, but not always) which sounds very different, depending on which hifi equipment one uses to listen to it. This is the case with this 1985 EMI digital recording by London Baroque of some of Vivaldi’s chamber music. I have owned this CD for some years now and mostly did not particularly enjoy it – because of the sound. Re-listening in order to write this review, I established that on one combination of hifi equipment (SonyES/NAD/Philips) the basso continuo was aggressively loud, almost drowning out the violins, which, when they could be properly heard, themselves sounded rather harsh; also, there was considerable background noise to contend with. When I tried again with another set of equipment (NAD/LehmannAudio/Sennheiser), the result was completely different: For the first time, I was able to distinguish the individual instruments and their placement on stage; the basso continuo, which London Baroque appear to have experimented with using several different combinations of instruments (cello, violone, organ and harpsichord), receded a little into the background and became more spacious, while the violins – and the viola – sounded a lot sweeter (although I still had a vague feeling that Ingrid Seifert’s playing was not quite what I would really have liked to hear, but I am not expert enough to be able to explain why). Also, the background noise was reduced to a tolerable level. All this demonstrating that listening to classical music on CD can be an interesting but sometimes frustrating experience.

Vivaldi’s music is highly interesting, and the pieces on this CD demonstrate quite clearly that Stravinsky was just being a spoil-sport when he claimed Vivaldi had just written the same piece 450 times over! The use of the organ as a continui instrument makes the first two pieces on the CD perhaps a little more difficult, so if you are new to this repertoire I recommend going straight to one of the later pieces: try, for example, the cello sonata RV 42 (tracks 15 through 18), a quite delightful piece of baroque chamber music. Or go for the Variations on “La Follia” RV 63, a piece of wonderful virtuoso writing for strings. If you only know “The Four Seasons” you have a lot of Vivaldi to discover.

But having said that, I think I would turn for Vivaldi’s chamber sonatas in the first instance to the Purcell Quartet on Chandos Chaconne (two single CDs), where, despite some intonation problems, the violin playing of Elizabeth Wallfisch and Catherine Mackintosh is more easily accessible than that of Ingrid Seifert and William Hunt and where the basso continuo is allowed to run its course much more simply, without the instrumental experiments of Charles Medlam and co. And the chances are that your hifi equipment will have fewer problems with the Chandos sound.

Music Review:

Music Review

music review

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