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
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 12 Oct 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Between the Seasons
Henning Kraggerud, Arctic Philharmonic
Classical - Released by Simax Classics on 11 Jul 2017
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
A Classical Winter: Vivaldi
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 4 Dec 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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
Classical - Released by Bomba-Piter on 9 Jul 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: A Tale of Two Seasons (Concertos & Arias)
La Serenissima, Adrian Chandler
Classical - Released by Avie Records on 9 Jul 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Eternal Classical: Vivaldi
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 28 Sep 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Antonio Vivaldi "The Four Seasons"
Antonio Vivaldi, Hans Reinartz
Classical - Released by PlayFri on 12 May 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi, Las Cuatro Estaciones
Orquesta de Cámara Teatro Municipal
Classical - Released by Alerce on 24 Feb 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Barbarian Beauty: Concertos for Viola da Gamba
Mayumi Hirasaki, Vittorio Ghielmi, Marcel Comendant
Classical - Released by Passacaille on 16 Jan 2012
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi - Classical Panorama
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 19 Nov 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Classical Masterpieces of the Millennium
Classical - Released by Cobra Entertainment LLC on 29 Oct 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: Concertos for Strings
Classical - Released by Analekta on 26 Mar 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
My morning with Vivaldi
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 5 Sep 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jazz Suite for Bassoon
Classical - Released by Summit Records on 14 Apr 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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
Classical - Released by Period Records on 11 Jan 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
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: Concierto para Mandolina en Do Mayor
Classical - Released by Piros Comercial Digital on 7 Jul 2013
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