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	Antonio Vivaldi: Late Violin Concertos (RV177 / RV222 / RV273 / RV295 / RV375 / RV191) - Giuliano Carmignola ... Antonio Vivaldi, Andrea Marcon, ... Sony, 2001 average customer review:based on 23 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The performance is equally unconventional. Giuliano Carmignola, as he demonstrated on his previous Vivaldi recording, is a formidable virtuoso who projects spontaneity, vitality, and expressiveness. In solo parts bristling with runs, often into the highest register, trills, double stops, and arpeggios, he displays breathtaking speed and facility, total command of every style of bowing and articulation, and a ravishing, powerful, infinitely variable tone. Except for the harpsichord, the orchestral instruments, tuned to normal pitch, hardly sound Baroque--their tone is full-blooded and varied. By using two harpsichords and a lute, conductor Andrea Marcon achieves percussive effects sometimes resembling gunshots, and the playing is by turns brilliant, lyrical, and exciting. --Edith Eisler

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A Must Have

This cd, as well as Carmignola and the VBO's version of the four seasons (and 3 other perviously unrecorded late violin concertos) and their 2002 cd (mint green cd) of Vivaldi Late violin concertos are a must have for any fan of classical music or the violin.
The material here is first rate--these are concertos written late in Vivaldi's career for purposes that did not require the satisfaction of a mass audiance. Vivaldi was not after popularity in this style. The solo violin part is very difficult even by current standards, requiring not only pure virtuosity, but also a massive expressive palette. Carmignola and the Venice Baroque orchestra are the perfect preformers to bring this deep and inovative music to life. Carmignola has a huge expressive palette to draw on, and will impress you with the variety of coloring he can achive. He loves to juxtapose the smooth with the jagged, the husky with the sparkling. His expressive interpretations so match Vivaldi's intent in the music that it is almost as if Vivaldi has sprung to life, picked up his violin and started playing his favorite works. His upper range sparkles and sings, his lower range groans and growls. This is great violin playing by any standard; baroque, modern, academic, recreational, artistic, intellectual... Listen to the artiuclation and what Carmignola does with his bow. The Venice Baroque Orchestra is not far behind this standard. Their emoting covers the range Vivaldi requires--which is huge, and the violins shine. This is a very tight group with a transparent sound-- all the parts blend into a whole but are at any moment audible as their own entities. The continuo is entertaining and effective without being distracting. I espesially like the archlute playing with adds great touches. The orchestra is not without fault, though. The violas and espesially the cellos and violone (double bass viol) need to play out more. In the first mvt. of the Bflat concerto the cellos play a strange and hypnotic ritornello melody, but we often miss it because the cellos don't play out and the high strings cover too well with their long tones. This moment stands out as a disappointment, but tutti sections are plagued by a weak bass throughout the cd. The continuo (during solos) cello, however, is a good compliment to the violin.
And just listen to these concertos, which stand with any violin composer in the literature! There is the opening mvt of the cd, in which the orchestra churns and drives wild rythms and the bass explodes, but the soloist brings us to the silken shimmer of a utopian lake, calm yet unlimitedly complex in it's motion and mood. The D major concerto is a celebration of life and it's andante is soothing yet awing in it's lyrical invention. The 1st mvt. of the e minor concerto chills the bones and remindes me of a bleak winter day. It was probibly one of Vivaldi's last works and you can sence a bitterness and a cold frailty still punctuated by firey fits (this is the red priest after all). Yet it's an optimistic work in it's cleverness with innovative and disconcerting waves of melodic cells. The F major concerto is a rustc veiw, bold and rough, yet sublime, too. The Bflat concerto is shrouded in mystery from the opening measures, although the soloist brings us out of the fogs and into a clearer yet still perplexing landscape. The jovial 3rd mvt. is a more confidant place dappled by sun. The 1st mvt. of the C rv.191 concerto is shocking in its audacious contrasts. Vivaldi versus smooth melody with angular leaps in the solos and adds a tradmark molto perpetuo that gurgles like a brook. The slow mvt is meditative and content. The 3rd mvt. brings us to a jittry conclusion full of humor and optimism-- it shivers and tumbles along like a playful act of nature.
If you don't own this cd, you should add it to your collection. Along with it's two companions it will enrich you musical life.

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It should be a 10 star

Every time I listern to it, I feel like I am in heaven.


Dazzlingly beautiful; rip roaring; transcendent

Clearly Giuliano Carmignola doesn't need a review from me on this masterly and gorgeous performance. But I have to weigh in here and say this album is nothing short of glorious. These are, of course, concerti by Vivaldi that I've never heard before and that adds to the immense pleasure of experiencing this album. I've now ordered every cd with the name Giuliano Carmignola on it. The Venice Baroque Orchestra directed by Andrea Marcon is incomparable. ---- If you've never tasted Vivaldi, begin here. If you know only the Four Seasons, prepare to be once again swept off your feet. This is an invaluable recording, and would make a superb gift for anyone who has not perhaps experienced the joys of baroque music. ---- After a difficult day, or when your mind won't shut down on its routine worries, put on this album and prepare to be resurrected. Music like this cleanses and the invigorates the brain and the soul. Like another reviewer here, I wish I could give it ten stars.

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Buried treasures uncovered

Guiliano Carmignola, along with the Venice Baroque Orchestra, under the leadership of Andrea Marcon, has reached another zenith of baroque performance.

Combining Vivaldi's late compositional techniques with the flawless, brilliant baroque playing of Carmignola and the VBO sets this recording apart from hundreds of Vivaldi recordings, most of which are arguably redundant and dull.

Opening this album with the Concerto in C Major RV 177, puts them "right on the money", as characterized by crisp articulation from the basso continuo, crystal clear passages from the violins, and of course, the pristine performance by Carmignola. It is then followed by the playful and lovely D Major Concerto RV 222; it's second movement Largo uncharacteristic of Vivaldi's early compositions, has a lovely romantic touch by the use of uncharacteristic melodic movement from the violin such as elaborate trills, and playful melodic movment.

Starting with an omnipotent, suspenseful e-minor opening, the Concerto in E minor RV 273 is one of the six concertos in this album to the deliver the most noticeable, late composition style of Vivaldi; uncommon harmonies, suspensions, and an even virtuostic approach to baroque violin performance. Carmignola and the VBO delivers grief, suspense, and uncertainty at their best.

The dance-like feel of the Concerto in F closely resembles the third movement of the "Autumn" concerto from the Four Seasons. Once again, just like the E minor concerto, the second movement shows the uncharacteristic yet soothing harmonies of the late practices of Antonio Vivaldi, along with a melancholy lute accompaniment. It is then followed by the progressive B-flat concerto, which, in my opinion features the most pleasing second movement from a Baroque composer; it may well be used for a romantic setting for a movie soundtrack.

The final concerto, the RV 191 C Major Concerto, is the "Finale" of this album as it features the most ornamental, elaborate runs from all sections of the string orchestra. Carmignola goes to the limit with his virtuosity as he performs a fast meter, celebratory concerto, filled with crystal clear articulation, immense expression, and flawless artistry.

I'm thankful to have purchased this CD three years ago as it is still one of the best recording of music I have in my library. The artistry, mastery, and authenticity is so fresh whenever the tracks are played on my Ipod.

Vivaldi is indeed rejoicing in his grave as six of his buried treasures have been performed by an exceptional group of performers.

Bravo, Bravo, Bravo!

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This is not your father's Vivaldi!

First, you should know, I can't call myself a music expert, I've never formally studied music, nor do I play an instrument, I'm just someone who enjoys listening. And I am so glad I bought this cd. I enjoy Baroque music for it's sprightly liveliness and joyful ornamentation; no matter what kind of mood I'm in, a few minutes of listening to some of my favorite Baroque pieces will lift me 1000%. This cd is my new best friend. If you're one of those people who thinks that Vivaldi wrote the same concerto over and over again, prepare to have your socks blown off. The first movement of the Concerto in C Major for Violin will grab you from its opening bars and not let you go until it fades into its ending. I was left in my seat marveling at what I had just heard. The rest of the cd is equally amazing, it will make you hear Vivaldi as you have never heard him before. So, don't just sit there reading, put this little wonder in your shopping cart and order it right away. You won't be disappointed.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5



Tracks
Concerto In C Major For Violin: Allegro ma poco | Concerto In C Major For Violin: Largo | Concerto In C Major For Violin: Allegro | Concerto In D Major For Violin: Allegro | Concerto In D Major For Violin: Andante | Concerto In D Major For Violin: Allegro | Concerto In E Minor For Violin: Allegro non molto | Concerto In E Minor For Violin: Largo | Concerto In E Minor For Violin: Allegro | Concerto In F Major For Violin: Allegro | Concerto In F Major For Violin: Larghetto | Concerto In F Major For Violin: Allegro | Concerto In B-Flat Major For Violin: Allegro non molto | Concerto In B-Flat Major For Violin: Largo | Concerto In B-Flat Major For Violin: Allegro | Concerto In C Major For Violin: Allegro ma poco | Concerto In C Major For Violin: Largo | Concerto In C Major For Violin: Allegro ma poco

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