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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Vivaldi Moods
Klassik - Erschienen bei UME - Global Clearing House am 12.10.2020
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Between the Seasons
Henning Kraggerud, Arctic Philharmonic
Klassik - Erschienen bei Simax Classics am 11.07.2017
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A Classical Winter: Vivaldi
Klassik - Erschienen bei UME - Global Clearing House am 04.12.2023
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Antonio Vivaldi. Four Seasons. Concertos for Violin and Orchestra, Op.8: Concerto No.4 in F Minor, "Winter"
Chamber Orchestra of St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Mikhail Vaiman, Artistic director Lev Shinder
Klassik - Erschienen bei Bomba-Piter am 09.07.2012
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Vivaldi: A Tale of Two Seasons (Concertos & Arias)
La Serenissima, Adrian Chandler
Klassik - Erschienen bei Avie Records am 09.07.2013
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Eternal Classical: Vivaldi
Klassik - Erschienen bei UME - Global Clearing House am 28.09.2020
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Antonio Vivaldi "The Four Seasons"
Antonio Vivaldi, Hans Reinartz
Klassik - Erschienen bei PlayFri am 12.05.2022
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Vivaldi, Las Cuatro Estaciones
Orquesta de Cámara Teatro Municipal
Klassik - Erschienen bei Alerce am 24.02.1994
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Barbarian Beauty: Concertos for Viola da Gamba
Mayumi Hirasaki, Vittorio Ghielmi, Marcel Comendant
Klassik - Erschienen bei Passacaille am 16.01.2012
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Vivaldi - Classical Panorama
Klassik - Erschienen bei UME - Global Clearing House am 19.11.2022
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Classical Masterpieces of the Millennium
Klassik - Erschienen bei Cobra Entertainment LLC am 29.10.2013
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Simone Kermes Great Vivaldi Arias
Antonio Vivaldi, Simone Kermes
Klassik - Erschienen bei UME - Global Clearing House am 15.08.2020
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Vivaldi: Concertos for Strings
Klassik - Erschienen bei Analekta am 26.03.1998
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My morning with Vivaldi
Klassik - Erschienen bei UME - Global Clearing House am 05.09.2020
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Jazz Suite for Bassoon
Klassik - Erschienen bei Summit Records am 14.04.2015
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Concerto In G Major For Two Mandolins And Orchestra / Concerto No. 1 In A Minor For Piccolo And Strings / Concerto No. 2 In C Major For Piccolo And Strings / Concerto No. 3 In C Major For Piccolo And Strings
Orchestre Accademia Dell'Orso, Newell Jenkins
Klassik - Erschienen bei Period Records am 11.01.1957
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The Great Violin Concertos
Instrumentalmusik - Erschienen bei Regis Records am 31.07.2013
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Classic Dreams: Antonio Vivaldi
Klassik - Erschienen bei Piros Comercial Digital am 05.10.2013
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Vivaldi: Concierto para Mandolina en Do Mayor
Klassik - Erschienen bei Piros Comercial Digital am 07.07.2013
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Archiv Produktion - Vivaldi
Klassik - Erschienen bei UME - Global Clearing House am 08.05.2021
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The Four Seasons :Vivaldi, Tartini, & Leclair
Klassik - Erschienen bei Onyx Classics am 02.10.2015
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