Vivaldi X2² La Serenissima & Adrian Chandler

• Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741): Concerto for 2 violins, 2 oboes, 2 recorders, strings & continuo in C, RV 557:
• 1 Vivaldi: Concerto for 2 violins, 2 oboes, 2 recorders, strings & continuo in C, RV 557: I. Allegro non molto 02:51
• 2 Vivaldi: Concerto for 2 violins, 2 oboes, 2 recorders, strings & continuo in C, RV 557: II. Largo 02:39
• 3 Vivaldi: Concerto for 2 violins, 2 oboes, 2 recorders, strings & continuo in C, RV 557: III. Allegro non molto 03:15
• Concerto for 2 cellos, strings & continuo in g, RV 531:
• 4 Vivaldi: Concerto for 2 cellos, strings & continuo in g, RV 531: Allegro 03:24
• 5 Vivaldi: Concerto for 2 cellos, strings & continuo in g, RV 531: II. Largo 04:38
• 6 Vivaldi: Concerto for 2 cellos, strings & continuo in g, RV 531: III. Allegro 03:27
• Concerto for 2 flutes, strings & continuo in C, RV 533:
• 7 Vivaldi: Concerto for 2 flutes, strings & continuo in C, RV 533: I. Allegro molto 02:37
• 8 Vivaldi: Concerto for 2 flutes, strings & continuo in C, RV 533: II. Largo 02:45
• 9 Vivaldi: Concerto for 2 flutes, strings & continuo in C, RV 533: III. Allegro 02:26
• Concerto for 2 violins, strings & continuo in G, RV 516:
• 10 Vivaldi: Concerto for 2 violins, strings & continuo in G, RV 516: I. Allegro molto 04:04
• 11 Vivaldi: Concerto for 2 violins, strings & continuo in G, RV 516: II. Andante 02:15
• 12 Vivaldi: Concerto for 2 violins, strings & continuo in G, RV 516: III. Allegro 03:24
• Concerto for 2 oboes, strings & continuo in C, RV 534:
• 13 Vivaldi: Concerto for 2 oboes, strings & continuo in C, RV 534: I. Allegro 02:50
• 14 Vivaldi: Concerto for 2 oboes, strings & continuo in C, RV 534: II. Largo 03:25
• 15 Vivaldi: Concerto for 2 oboes, strings & continuo in C, RV 534: III. Allegro 03:00
• Concerto for 2 violins, strings & continuo in B♭, RV 524:
• 16 Vivaldi: Concerto for 2 violins, strings & continuo in B♭, RV 524: I. Allegro 04:33
• 17 Vivaldi: Concerto for 2 violins, strings & continuo in B♭, RV 524: II. Andante 04:28
• 18 Vivaldi: Concerto for 2 violins, strings & continuo in B♭, RV 524: III. Allegro 03:17
• Concerto Il Proteo ò il Mondo al Roverscio for violin, cello, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, harpsichord, strings & continuo in F, RV 572:
• 19 Vivaldi: Concerto Il Proteo ò il Mondo al Roverscio for violin, cello, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, harpsichord, strings & continuo in F, RV 572: I. Allegro 04:02
• 20 Vivaldi: Concerto Il Proteo ò il Mondo al Roverscio for violin, cello, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, harpsichord, strings & continuo in F, RV 572: II. Largo 02:56
• 21 Vivaldi: Concerto Il Proteo ò il Mondo al Roverscio for violin, cello, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, harpsichord, strings & continuo in F, RV 572: III. Allegro 03:39
• Total Runtime 01:09:55

Info for Vivaldi X2²

A follow up to our 2018 album Vivaldi x2, this release features even more Vivaldi concertos for pairs of instruments, plus the Concerto Il Proteo ò il Mondo al Roverscio for violin, cello, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, harpsichord, strings & continuo in F, RV 572.

These are some of Vivaldi’s most colourful and joyful works, and with director Adrian Chandler at the helm listeners can look forward to further baroque excellence from our dynamic ensemble.

Although the early history of the instrumental concerto owes significant debts to composers such as Albinoni, Gregori, Taglietti and Torelli, there can be little doubt that the greatest credit of all is due to Antonio Vivaldi.

Born in Venice, Vivaldi was a priest, a teacher, an impresario, a virtuoso violinist and a composer, from whose pen flowed a prodigious amount of music, exceeded only by a handful of composers such as Telemann. During his lifetime, he composed around 500 concertos, mostly for a single soloist with an accompaniment of strings and continuo; the bulk of these were probably written for—or at least were performed in—the chapel of the Ospedale della Pietà, the Venetian foundling hospital which provided Vivaldi with significant periods of employment throughout his career. Concertos for a single soloist—or even with no soloist at all—would suffice for most services held in the chapel, but sometimes the occasion demanded something a little more celebratory. For special religious festivals, Vivaldi composed either grandiose solo concertos or concertos with more than one soloist. The largest group of these works is a body of around 40 concertos written for identical pairs of instruments with a further 15 for contrasting instruments such as violin and organ, violin and oboe, and violin and cello; from this latter group, only three—for viola d’amore and lute, oboe and bassoon and for oboe and cello—survive in single examples.

His earliest examples of the double concerto are to be found in his 1711 publication L’estro armonico. This set of concertos took Europe by storm and influenced composers such as Bach, Graupner and Telemann who composed many works in a similar vein. Oddly, it seems that Italy was rather reluctant to follow suit; the only Italian composers—to my knowledge—who produced works that treat the soloists as near-equals are Albinoni, Bigaglia, the Marcello brothers, Torelli and Zavateri, though none of these composers produced double concertos in any great quantity. Brescianello, Tartini and Valentini left no surviving examples at all.

As in his solo concertos, the violin is the instrument for which Vivaldi composed the bulk of his double concertos. Around thirty such works for two violins survive, spanning a period between 1711 and 1740. It is difficult to assign dates to many of Vivaldi’s instrumental compositions, but we suspect that the concerto in G (RV516) was probably written in the late 1720s or early 1730s. This period can be mooted on account of its close relationship with a sonata in G (RV71), one of four works for two violins and optional bass that Vivaldi composed for a tour of ‘Germania’ undertaken by the composer and his father, Giovanni Battista Vivaldi in 1729. ...

Katy Bircher, flute, recorder
Flavia Hirte, flute
Rachel Chaplin, oboe
Mark Baigent, oboe, recorder
Oliver Cave, violin
Samuel Staples, violin
La Serenissima
Adrian Chandler, director, violin

Adrian Chandler
Born on Merseyside in 1974, Adrian Chandler is recognised internationally as a leading interpreter of Italian baroque music. Whilst a student at the Royal College of Music, Adrian founded La Serenissima with whom he has performed as Director/Soloist at major festivals and has recorded extensively for the Avie label (winning a Gramophone Award in 2010). He has been Guest Director and Soloist with many ensembles and will make his debut with Concerto Copenhagen in 2019. Adrian’s performances have been broadcast extensively worldwide; his disc of virtuoso violin sonatas Per Monsieur Pisendel 2 released in 2014 attracted rave reviews and featured on the soundtrack of hit American TV series The Originals. His interpretation of The Four Seasons was released in 2015 to outstanding critical reception and his unique combination of research, editing and performing work has been recognised by twice winning the Gramophone Award for Baroque Instrumental for recording projects The French Connection (2010) and The Italian Job (2017). Adrian’s most recent recording with La Serenissima is a disc of double concertos Vivaldi x2, released in 2018, which went straight to No.1 in the Classical Charts and attracted great critical acclaim.

Known for his virtuosity and commitment as performer, Adrian also works tirelessly to research and edit new repertoire for La Serenissima. He held an Arts and Humanities Research Council fellowship at Southampton University to research the development of the North Italian violin concerto 1690 – 1740, and subsequently a two-year post as Turner Sims Professor. He curated La Serenissima’s first ever residency The Grand Tour at St John’s Smith Square, London during the 2016/17 season, devised and directed three concerts for the 2017 Vivaldi in Venice festival, and in 2018 directed the UK premiere of Brescianello’s opera Tisbe for the Buxton International Festival.

During the 2018/19 season, Adrian will direct La Serenissima in a flagship programme The Godfather at venues around the UK, will perform two bespoke programmes at London’s Wigmore Hall, and will tour to Italy, Denmark, Germany and Spain.

Booklet for Vivaldi X2²