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 4 Seasons
Klassiek - Released by Music square on 15 feb. 2019
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Summer Wedding: A Bride's Musical Guide
Klassiek - Released by Cobra Entertainment LLC. on 6 jul. 2010
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The Great Composers Collection: Antonio Vivaldi
Klassiek - Released by Classic Fox Records on 1 jan. 2003
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The Complete Sonatas for Violoncell and Continuo
Klassiek - Released by CRD Records on 1 jan. 2005
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Vivaldi For The Brain
Klassiek - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 7 dec. 2020
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Vivaldi: Concerto for Strings and Continuo in G Major, RV 151 "Alla Rustica" (Digitally Remastered)
Camerata Labacensis, Kurt Redel
Concertmuziek - Released by EMG Classical on 16 okt. 2015
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I Love Vivaldi
Klassiek - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 14 feb. 2021
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Vivaldi: 6 Concerti for Flauto traverso
Masahiro Arita, Bach-Mozart Ensemble Tokyo, Antonio Vivaldi
Klassiek - Released by Denon on 1 jan. 2010
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Classical music for Children: Vivaldi, Debussy, Chopin, Strauss, Borodin
Roman Perucki, Natalia Walewska, Rafal Lewandowski
Klassiek - Released by Soliton on 1 jan. 2010
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Les Quatre Saisons
Divers - Released by Water Drop Records on 9 nov. 2023
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Vivaldi: Twelve Concerti for Various Instruments
Klassiek - Released by Musical Heritage Society on 20 mrt. 2019
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Vivaldi: Baroque Legends
Klassiek - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 2 mrt. 2021
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Vivaldi for the Day
Klassiek - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 4 jun. 2021
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Vivaldi - The Four Seasons
The Vivaldi Players, Antonio Vivaldi
Klassiek - Released by Denon on 1 jan. 2011
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Vivaldi: Concerto Alla Rustica
Klassiek - Released by Challenge Classics on 1 jan. 1994
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100 Must-Have Composers of Classical Music
Klassiek - Released by Cobra Entertainment LLC on 30 sep. 2014
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Vivaldi, Albinoni, Sammartini, Baston
Klassiek - Released by Irco Video on 30 sep. 1993
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Vivaldi: Concertos
Concertmuziek - Released by Past Classics on 17 feb. 2014
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Vivaldi - Essentials
Klassiek - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 16 apr. 2021
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Vivaldi - Easter
Klassiek - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 3 apr. 2021
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Vivaldi: The Contest Between Harmony and Invention (including The 4 Seasons)
Klassiek - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 15 mrt. 2021
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