MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

REVIEW Plain text for smartphones & printers

Support us financially by purchasing this from

Antonio VIVALDI (1678-1741)
The Complete Viola d’Amore Concertos
Concerto in D major, RV 392 [9:08]
Concerto in D minor, RV 393 [8:34]
Concerto in F major, RV 97 [11.15]
Concerto in D minor, RV 394 [9:07]
Concerto in D minor, RV 395 [9:08]
Concerto in A major, RV 396 [10:01]
Concerto in A minor, RV 397 [9:21]
Concerto in D minor, RV 540 [12:04]
Ars Antigua/Rachel Barton Pine (viola d'amore)
rec. 15-16 November 2011, 1, 2, 8 July, 27 August 2014, Nichols Hall at the Music Institute of Chicago
CEDILLE CDR90000159 [79.11]

How refreshing to find not just another recording of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, but, instead, a disc of all of his Concertos for Viola d’Amore. Of these eight concertos half are in D minor and each opens with an Allegro, followed by a slow movement Largo or Andante, and concludes with a third movement Allegro. They are works full of beauty, invention and refinement that are well worth a listen. One’s initial impression is of music of tremendous elegance and poise, and of top-quality performances from Rachel Barton Pine and Ars Antigua. It is immediately apparent that these are skilled and passionate performers, who handle the music very deftly indeed, with plenty of sparkle in the fast movements and a good sense of dignity and grace in the slower movements. I occasionally yearned for a greater sense and feeling of dance in some of the faster movements, such as the third movement of the D minor Concerto RV 393.

Barton Pine and Ars Antigua seem to have made the interpretative decision to treat equivalent musical gestures the same, giving these the same shape each time they return. Personally, I find this a little same-y and would have preferred an interpretation which gave some differentiation to repeated phrases or musical ideas. Nevertheless, one can only admire the actual performances of the Concertos and the conviction that the performers bring to these.

I was particularly struck by the Concerto in F major, which is the only one to include wind and brass instruments; the others being for strings only. The inclusion of these instruments brings a more interesting sonority and lends further fascination to the music.

The production standards of the disc are high, with an elegant cover, and excellent booklet notes from musician and musicologist Paul V. Miller – although I found Barton Pine’s foreword to the booklet both self-indulgent and out of keeping with the thread of refinement that runs through this production. Phrases such as “it’s always a pleasure to ‘jam’ with you guys” is somewhat jarring with the sophistication and beauty of Vivaldi’s music.

Em Marshall-Luck



 

 



Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing