Fabio Biondi Antonio Vivaldi Europa Galante - Vivaldi Concerti con molti strumenti Vol 2 (22 tracks) +Album Reviews

Super Ka-Pow Fun Time Happy Maximum Diversion

Christian V. Pampinella | Bloomington, IN | 12/07/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"RV 569 has been a favorite ever since I received an ASMF recording of it as a child. Biondi and company give it an exhilarating performance, one that will take your breath away. They still manage to sound very sweet, even when they have you on the edge of your seat. The quality of the recording is excellent, although I rather enjoyed the more "spacious" recorded sound of The King's Consort performing the same repertoire on Hyperion with almost identical forces. Both recordings possess a distinctly different ambience. One listen to RV 566 should persuade any music lover of this new release's merits. Europa Galante's woodwinds are delightfully sonorous and the continuo is prominently plucky and varied nicely in a dramatic fashion. Although it might seem uncharacteristic of Biondi's reputation as a maniac, he often utilizes understatement and simplicity to enhance the music's rhythmic vitality and it works especially well here. This release is obviously a must have for anyone who buys these sorts of recordings, but it's also very accessible music that would make an ideal gift for a child or perhaps someone just getting into music. This release is not beyond criticism, however lovely it may be. There are a few brief spots where the solo playing isn't "technically" perfect, but it doesn't necessarily detract from the enjoyment of the performances."

Vivaldi's Variety

Paul Buttenwieser | Boston, MA | 01/18/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This disc gives the lie to the cliche that Vivaldi wrote the same concerto six hundred times. This isn't simply a matter of the great variety of instruments serving as soloiists (one concerto boasts a group of soloists including a violin, two hunting horns, two oboes, and timpani!). In Fabio Biondi, Vivaldi finds a performer and conductor whose own inventiveness complements that of the composer's. The spaciousness of the recording adds to the alluring sounds produced by Europa Galante, even in the all-strings concerto for four violins (not the familiar B minor Concerto that Bach transcribed in his Concerto for Four Harpsichords, but an equally arresting work.) All in all an exuberant and entertaining disc, although even with such variety I can only enjoy Vivaldi one concerto per hearing."

Amazing

Humberto Herrera | Weston, FL USA | 07/15/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Europa Galante is amazing they have elevated my spirits to new high. All you need to do is listen to the first track and you will be sold. I am now looking at other CD by Europa Galante and will have to visit one of their concerts one day. I don't know too much about Classical music but the greats and the stuff most people listen to. Well, they played the greats (Vivaldi) but it sounds so much greater and much more fun. If you want a burst of energy this is the CD."

Another triumph!,

Morten Fuglestad | Norway | 12/02/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The first volume of Concerti per molti strumenti (called Concerti per mandolinio) was a real knock-out. This second volume will prove that there is a lot more Vivaldi to discover.

The first concerto of this CD is a Concerto a 10 V in D. The recorded sound is excellent and the majestical slow opening with horns and timpani will get the hairs on your arms to stand stright up!

The slow movements (an alternate second movement with solo organ is also present) are both heartrendering and conveyes the impression of entering an mini-opera without words.

The D minor concerto (RV566)for 2 violins, 2 recorders, 2 oboes and bassoon is also breathtaking. It is probably also written for the Saxon court as many of the other concertos on the first volume.

The other concertos are also so full of masterly music that it is difficult to single out the peaks.

Special mention should perhaps be taken of the concerto for viola d'amore and lute in D minor (RV540) with Fabio Biondi and Giangiacomo Pinardi. This is a concerto that makes extreme demands on articulation (in Harnoncourt's sense of the word) and the absense of the heavy basso continuo in all but a few ritornelli makes this true chamber music. The concerto brims full of melancholy and despair. Biondi and Pinardi shades and lightens the music with keen and expressive outburst. In the wrong hands I suspect that this concerto could be a little too pedestrian, but in the hands of a true master it is revealed to be perhaps the best concerto Vivaldi ever wrote (listening to it while I'm writing this this seems to be an understatement - it is really beyond words...).

Strong compeditors in RV 540 are Jacob Lundberg and the Drottningholm Orchestra on BIS. But Biondi and Pinardi are superior in every way. Not least the flexible tempi of Biondi & Co. are a constant drive to the build up and release of tensions and surprising harmonic turns in this concerto.

The last work on the CD is a concerto for 4 violins, strings and bc. This rare combination was the showcase for many composers and violinist in Italy and called forth a lot of extreemely viroutousic music, Vivaldi was no exception! (If you are interested in more concertos of this kind you should try out Goebel & Musica Antiqua Köln's fantastic CD with concertos for 4 violins on ARCHIV 445 612-2, "Italian violin concertos", recorded in 1992).

Vivi felice!"

Search - Fabio Biondi, Antonio Vivaldi, Europa Galante :: Vivaldi: Concerti con molti strumenti, Vol. 2

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