Vivaldi 22 December

[doversoul1]

Sorry folks (I hear much groaning) but it will cheer me up no end. Happy Christmas.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04vd0tz

but again, a lot of blurbs and no playlist.

[Rolmill]

Sorry folks (I hear much groaning) but it will cheer me up no end. Happy Christmas.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04vd0tz

but again, a lot of blurbs and no playlist.

No groaning here - coincidentally, I am just starting a Vivaldi concerto splurge, thanks to Europadisc's pre-Xmas daily label discounts. A 2 CD Harmonia Mundi set of cello concertos (Roel Dieltiens) arrived a few days ago and I just received today two boxes (12 CDs!) of various concertos on the Naïve label - so that's my holiday listening sorted.

I have always been irritated by the comment attributed to Stravinsky that AV wrote one concerto 400 (?) times and am greatly looking forward to immersing myself. However, I do think that his concertos are particularly sensitive to performance style and quality. For example, I was disappointed with Ofra Harnoy's complete set of the cello concertos, picked up several years ago, which I found dull and heavy-going; whereas I love the performances I've sampled so far by Dieltiens (nimble, light-footed, great variety of tone and articulation), who transforms them from sludge to champagne (OK, Prosecco then).

[MickyD]

Agreed, Rolmill, those Dieltiens discs are superb...I got them when they first came out. It's a shame that they are not better known, wonderful performances. As are the selection of cello concertos and sonatas recorded by Christophe Coin and the AAM some years before.

[Rolmill]

Agreed, Rolmill, those Dieltiens discs are superb...I got them when they first came out. It's a shame that they are not better known, wonderful performances. As are the selection of cello concertos and sonatas recorded by Christophe Coin and the AAM some years before.

I don't know the Coin/AAM recordings (I'm a Vivaldi novice!), but the Naive boxes include 2 CDs of Coin's remakes with Il Giardino Armonico which I'm looking forward to comparing with Dieltiens - they are equally well reviewed.

[MickyD]

There were three CDs recorded by Coin and the AAM, sadly not completing the concerti for cello. All still available on Amazon, I see...well worth having.