Adrian Chandler & La Serenissima - Vivaldi x2 (2018) [CD Rip]

The Vivaldi recordings by Adrian Chandler and his British period instrument ensemble La Serenissima, named after the nickname of the Venetian Republic and specializing in its music, are breaking new ground. Give this one a try if you haven't heard the group before: it's wonderful. Chandler focuses on double concertos, which Vivaldi produced in profusion for his players as the Osepale della Pietà, but which have been largely neglected on recordings. Chandler digs up unusual and interesting pieces; there isn't an overplayed item in the bunch. And the big news is his overall style: 180 degrees removed from muscular Italian Vivaldi approaches derived from operatic styles. For Chandler, the Vivaldi concerto is a playful, subtle affair, with soloists neither blending into the ensemble, as in some small-group readings, nor standing up to it in big contrasts. Instead, Chandler's soloists react flexibly to the orchestral tutti, catching the variety in Vivaldi's solo treatments. The work on Chandler's period horn and wind players is notable; hornists Anneke Scott and Jocelyn Lightfoot tame the temperamental natural horn and produce gentle sounds that fit perfectly with Chandler's approach. Sample one of the two-oboe concerts, such as the first movement of the Concerto in D minor, RV 535, or the finale of one of a pair of violin-and-cello concertos included, the Concerto in B flat major, RV 547, to hear how Chandler and La Serenissima weave the solo line into the orchestral texture rather than setting it apart. Also included is a notorious puzzle, the Concerto S.A.S.I.S.P.G.M.D.G.S.M.B. in F major for two horns, two oboes, bassoon, violin, cello, strings, and continuo, RV 574. This work has been the subject of speculation because of its title (it may stand for Per Sua Altezza Serenissima il Signor Principe Giuseppe. Maria de' Gonzaga Signor Mio Benignissimo, but then again maybe not), but its real interest lies in the truly virtuosic mixing of the solo parts, and in this performance, where Chandler has explored just that aspect of Vivaldi's double concertos on the program up to that point, and it makes an entrancing finale. Bravo! -- James Manheim