Antonio Vivaldi
The creator of hundreds of spirited, extroverted instrumental works, Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi is widely recognized as the master of the Baroque instrumental concerto, which he perfected and popularized more than any of his contemporaries. Vivaldi's kinetic rhythms, fluid melodies, bright instrumental effects, and extensions of instrumental technique make his some of the most enjoyable of Baroque music. He was highly influential among his contemporaries and successors: even as esteemed a figure as Johann Sebastian Bach adapted some of Vivaldi's music. Vivaldi's variable textures and dramatic effects initiated the shift toward what became the Classical style; a deeper understanding of his music begins with the realization that, compared with Bach and even Handel, he was Baroque music's arch progressive. Though not as familiar as his concerti, Vivaldi's stage and choral music is still of value; his sometimes bouncy, sometimes lyrical Gloria in D major (1708) has remained a perennial favorite. His operas were widely performed in his own time.
Details regarding Vivaldi's early life are few. His father was a violinist in the Cathedral of Venice's orchestra and probably Antonio's first teacher. There is much speculation about other teachers, such as Corelli, but no evidence to support this. Vivaldi studied for the priesthood as a young man and was ordained in 1703. He was known for much of his career as "il prete rosso" (the red-haired priest), but soon after his ordination he declined to take on his ecclesiastical duties. Later in life he cited ill health as the reason, but other motivations have been proposed; perhaps Vivaldi simply wanted to explore new opportunities as a composer. It didn't take him long. Landing a job as a violin teacher at a girls' orphanage in Venice (where he would work in one capacity or another during several stretches of his life), he published a set of trio sonatas and another of violin sonatas. Word of his abilities spread throughout Europe, and in 1711 an Amsterdam publisher brought out a set of Vivaldi's concertos for one or more violins with orchestra under the title L'estro armonico (Harmonic Inspiration). These were best-sellers (it was this group of concertos that spurred Bach's transcriptions), and Vivaldi followed them up with several more equally successful concerto sets. Perhaps the most prolific of all the great European composers, he once boasted that he could compose a concerto faster than a copyist could ready the individual parts for the players in the orchestra. He began to compose operas, worked from 1718 to 1720 in the court of the German principality of Hessen-Darmstadt, and traveled in Austria and perhaps Bohemia. Throughout his career, he had his choice of commissions from nobility and the highest members of society, the ability to use the best performers, and enough business savvy to try to control the publication of his works, although due to his popularity, many were published without his consent. Later in life Vivaldi was plagued by rumors of a sexual liaison with one of his vocal students, and he was censured by ecclesiastical authorities. His Italian career on the rocks, he headed for Vienna. He died there and was buried as a pauper in 1741, although at the height of his career his publications had earned a comfortable living.
© Rovi Staff /TiVo
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The Great Violin Concertos
Concertos - Released by Regis Records on 31 Jul 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Classic Dreams: Antonio Vivaldi
Classical - Released by Piros Comercial Digital on 5 Oct 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons
Classical - Released by EUROPEAN GRAMOPHONE on 23 May 2023
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Baroque Melodies
The English Concert, Antonio Vivaldi
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 11 May 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Archiv Produktion - Vivaldi
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 8 May 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Four Seasons :Vivaldi, Tartini, & Leclair
Classical - Released by Onyx Classics on 2 Oct 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Relax with Vivaldi
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 30 Jan 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Baroque Masterpieces
Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, Georg Friedrich Händel
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 19 May 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Baroque Legends: Handel & Vivaldi
Georg Friedrich Händel, Antonio Vivaldi
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 5 Mar 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi - A Journey
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 14 Sep 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Magic of Bach
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 21 Sep 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Autumn Nights: Vivaldi
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 28 Oct 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Four Seasons- Vivaldi -Composers Edition -Platinum Edition - Digitally Remastered (Digitally Remastered)
Pop - Released by Venetian Inc on 27 Nov 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Connaître ses classiques (50 œuvres incontournables)
Classical - Released by Rendez-Vous Digital on 29 Mar 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Masters of Classical Music - Vivaldi
Classical - Released by Cobra Entertainment LLC. on 7 Jul 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi for a Winter Day
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 6 Dec 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: Gods, Emperors & Angels (Concertos for Recorder, Violin, Bassoon & Strings)
La Serenissima, Adrian Chandler
Classical - Released by Avie Records on 8 Jun 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: Juditha Triumphans (Sacrum Militare Oratorium) RV 644
Antonio Vivaldi, Modo Antiquo, Federico Maria Sardelli
Classical - Released by Amadeus Best on 29 Nov 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Focus
Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, Georg Friedrich Händel
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 2 Jan 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Vivaldi, entre Ombre et Lumière
Antonio Vivaldi, Ensemble Baroque de Toulouse
Classical - Released by Ensemble Baroque de Toulouse on 24 Sep 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo