I Musici - Vivaldi: 9 concertos for Strings & Continuo (1990)

These are nine splendid, vivacious examples of the genre from Vivaldi. These short movements express much in just around a minute each. Each one represents a different mood.
Compared with other concertos of the time (e.g., solo concerti, concerto grossi, chamber concerti), this type (which was really called concerto a quarto or cinque) was really sought after in its time, but went out of fashion in the 1710s. Of these, Vivaldi wrote 44 specimens, not including around 20 sinfonias, which were written basically for the same type of ensemble (all strings, no soloists) with basso continuo.
This recording wonderfully captures the spirit of the early eighteenth-century. One can really hear the passion with which the ensemble performs these magnificent, dainty little pieces. Although they are largely overshadowed by the much more famous, published cycles like L'Estro Armonico or the Four Seasons, this set is yet another proof of the great variety of styles which existed in the Baroque period.