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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Le quattro stagioni
Classical - Released by Zenify Records on May 8, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: 65 Violin Concertos
Israel Chamber Orchestra, Shlomo Mintz
Classical - Released by Musical Heritage Society on Jun 14, 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Relaxing Baroque
Antonio Vivaldi, Georg Friedrich Händel
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on Jun 11, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi 5 Violin Concertos
Classical - Released by Onyx Classics on May 16, 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Four Seasons
Jaap van Zweden, Jan Willem de Vriend, Combattimento Consort Amsterdam
Classical - Released by Challenge Classics on Sep 16, 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi Forever
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on Jun 29, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: Masterpieces
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Feb 29, 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Música Sacra, Vivaldi
Classical - Released by ClassicalPirosDigital on Nov 30, 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Baroque Chill & Relax
Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, Georg Friedrich Händel
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on Jan 21, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi for the Home
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on Jan 24, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ton Koopman - A Portrait
Antonio Vivaldi, Ton Koopman, Arcangelo Corelli
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on Sep 2, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Vivaldi Album
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on Aug 24, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beautiful Vivaldi
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on Oct 11, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: Concerti Op. 8 Nos. 1-4 "Le Quattro Stagioni"
Rudolf Baumgartner, Festival Strings Lucerne, Antonio Vivaldi
Classical - Released by Denon on Aug 27, 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Baroque for Autumn
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on Sep 23, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A Night of Classical: Baroque
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on Dec 29, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Nathan Milstein Plays Vivaldi, Corelli and Tartini
Chamber Music - Released by RHI on Apr 15, 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Relaxing 2021
Claude Debussy, Antonio Vivaldi, Johann Sebastian Bach
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on Jan 2, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Baroque Violin Concertos
Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, Giuseppe Tartini
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on Mar 5, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: Instrumental Works
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on Dec 1, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Meditative Vivaldi
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on May 15, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo