Vivaldi on two harpsichords

[MickyD]

Just came back from a lovely concert of Vivaldi sonatas and concerti arranged for two harpsichords by the young duo Gwennaelle Alibert and Clément Geoffroy. It marked the launch of their new CD of the same programme. I must say that the transcriptions work very well on two harpsichords.

[Dave2002]

Very odd picture on that CD. Is it by anyone famous, or is it a modern creation?

[MickyD]

I have no idea - it looks a bit Flemish school to me, but I could be wrong. Strange choice for Vivaldi, but I guess it makes a change from the ubiquitous Canalettos and Guardis that normally adorn CD covers.

[jean]

...it looks a bit Flemish school to me...

Well spotted; it's by Frans Snyders.

[vinteuil]

Well spotted; it's by Frans Snyders.

... who certainly liked his fish -

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=frans+snyders+fish+market&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjgusnj7tvXAhXsKcAKHeU-BkwQsAQIJw&biw=1366&bih=629#imgrc=YtmHXMToB_InnM:

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[Dave2002]

Odd that pose of what looks like a seal under the table - almost dog like, and doesn't look dead to me.

Maybe like a dog it's waiting for titbits to fall down!

[oddoneout]

Odd that pose of what looks like a seal under the table - almost dog like, and doesn't look dead to me.

Maybe like a dog it's waiting for titbits to fall down!

Seals do sometimes learn that loitering around a fishing port can be profitable, and in European ports at least they are not likely to be made part of the menu.

[jean]

He's very fond of that little seal! Here it is again:

[oddoneout]

Together with child by the look of it. Rather distressing to see what looks like a harbour porpoise at the front, and what's with the tortoise under the seal pup?
What was the OP again.....!

[jean]

...Strange choice for Vivaldi...

To get back (almost) to the OP - fish are pretty important in Venice, but they don't seem to have painted them much. Here's something, but the artist appears to be English. And the waters round Venice don't produce much in the way of eels, of which there's a whole basketful in Snyder's painting.

For eels, you have to go to Comacchio, a little way to the south.

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[vinteuil]

... what's with the tortoise under the seal pup?

... more likely a turtle, good for making turtle soup and the much-prized calipash and calipee -

1749, Henry Fielding, chapter 1, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling,
The tortoise—as the alderman of Bristol, well learned in eating, knows by much experience—besides the delicious calipash and calipee, contains many different kinds of food.

1847, Thackeray, chapter XXVI, in Vanity Fair:
Dobbin helped him to it; for the lady of the house, before whom the tureen was placed, was so ignorant of the contents that she was going to help Mr. Sedley without bestowing upon him either calipash or calipee...


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[oddoneout]

more likely a turtle,

That's what I reckoned it was meant to be but it looked too small and not smooth enough to be the kind of sea turtle used for food?

And the waters round Venice don't produce much in the way of eels, of which there's a whole basketful in Snyder's painting.

I did wonder if this was a piscatorial version of the Flemish flower paintings, in which everything is stuffed in a vase/draped on a table without any attempt at seasonality.

[MickyD]

Thank you folks, for all this piscatorial enlightenment! I didn't know Frans Snyders at all. It was the little hat that the fisherman was wearing which made me feel it was Flemish.

As for the concert and the CD, it's an interesting experiment - Bach after all transcribed some Vivaldi for multiple harpsichords, and these young artists have done the same with other Vivaldi concertos/sonatas. The label "Encelade" was also one I had never come across before - their catalogue looks full of some good things.