Catalogue

Summary:

“Under Chandler, the playing, vibrant yet polished to perfection, is superb” – The Sunday Times

“Chandler’s tempos are invariably ‘just so’ – expertly executed, spaciously recorded, the disc consolidates and celebrates the ensemble’s Vivaldian roots as its 25th anniversary year beckons. Quarter of a century or no, La Serenissima’s youthful mojo shines brightly!” – BBC Music magazine (Recording of the month)

“It’s a feast of pleasures right from its RV539 kick-off: the most glittering of Vivaldi’s two double horn concertos…headed up here by soloists Anneke Scott and Jocelyn Lightfoot with some fantastically nimble, neat, exuberant period horn-playing…However, you’ll forget to miss the horns here in the concerto, RV538, because what we get instead is another soloist to whom I could listen all day, cellist Vladimir Waltham; hear his gently grainy, luminous tone and his sighing trills, and fall in love.” – Gramophone

“It’s exuberantly joyful from start to finish, and the players’ enjoyment of this holiday spirit is palpable in cheeky shades of rubato license, in lusty tuttis and in pair-solo passages that seem to bespeak an almost telepathic level of mutual understanding between the soloists…Pride of place has to go to the incredible talent of the two horn soloists Anneke Scott and Jocelyn Lightfoot.” – Presto Music

The Vivaldi specialists are set to triumph once again with Vivaldi x2, an astonishing medley of double concertos for hunting horns, oboes, bassoon, violin and cello. Emanating from Vivaldi’s pen the double concerto – a genre of which he all but cornered the market – resulted in some of the composer’s most colourful and exuberant works. In the hands of two-time Gramophone Award-winning La Serenissima, these concertos come to virtuosic and effervescent life.

Tracklist:

ANTONIO VIVALDI (1678–1741)

Concerto for 2 horns, strings & continuo in F, RV 539
1. I. Allegro (3.09)
2. II. Larghetto (2.29)
3. III. Allegro (2.42)

Concerto for 2 oboes, strings & continuo in D minor, RV 535
4. I. Largo (1.14)
5. II. Allegro (2.38)
6. III. Largo (2.35)
7. IV. Allegro molto (3.02)

Concerto for violin, cello, strings & continuo in A, RV 546
8. I. Allegro (3.26)
9. II. Andante (3.09)
10. III. Allegro (3.15)

Concerto for oboe, bassoon, strings & continuo in G, RV 545
11. I. Allegro (4.08)
12. II. Largo (2.47)
13. III. Allegro non molto (3.47)

Concerto for 2 horns, strings & continuo in F, RV 538
14. I. Allegro (3.21)
15. II. Largo (2.40)
16. III. Allegro non molto (3.17)

Concerto for violin, cello, strings & continuo in B flat, RV 547
17. I. Allegro (3.58)
18. II. Andante (2.01)
19. III. Allegro molto (3.07)

Concerto for 2 oboes, strings & continuo in A minor, RV 536
20. I. Allegro (2.35)
21. II. Largo (2.08)
22. III. Allegro (1.55)

Concerto per S.A.S.I.S.P.G.M.D.G.S.M.B. for violin, cello, 2 oboes, 2 horns, strings & continuo in F, RV 574
23. I. Allegro (4.39)
24. II. Adagio (3.17)
25. III. Allegro (3.57)

Total time: 75.32

La Serenissima •  Adrian Chandler, violin/director

Rachel Chaplin • Mark Baigent, oboe
Anneke Scott • Jocelyn Lightfoot, french horn
Peter Whelan, bassoon • Vladimir Waltham, cello

Recorded 12 – 15 February 2018, Cedars Hall, Wells, Somerset, UK
Produced, engineered and edited by Simon Fox-Gal