Europa Galante & Fabio Biondi - Vivaldi: Concerti per violino Vol. VI 'La Boemia' (2018) [CD-Rip]

This recording is part of the Naïve label's Vivaldi Edition series, presenting recently unearthed music of the composer known as the Red Priest. The series has tended to feature concertos from the last part of Vivaldi's life, when his music developed in strikingly original, new directions. A couple of pieces here are in the vein of the orderly and harmonious Op. 3 concertos, but others are irregular, brilliant, and formally innovative. The title refers not to a single work, but to the fact that the works were written in Prague. Violinist Fabio Biondi, leading the historical-instrument ensemble Europa Galante, is sympathetic to the music of this period; he can turn on the speed when desired (sample the finale of the E minor concerto), but generally he favors a precise, brisk, but not overly percussive, texture that brings out all the surprises in the music. Biondi in his notes tries to suggest a Bohemian folk influence on some of the music. It's not out of the question -- Telemann was writing folk-influenced music just a few years later -- but it's hard to hear. Instead you get a full sampling of how Vivaldi put his own spin on the emerging gallant style, choosing not so much its elegant aspects, but the dramatic possibilities in the breakup of Baroque texture. It's an exciting album from start to finish, and it makes as good a place as any to start with Naïve's series. ~ James Manheim