La Serenissima, Adrian Chandler - Vivaldi: Music for the Chapel of the Pietà (2005)

Baroque violinist extraordinaire Adrian Chandler has produced two of the most popular and enduring CDs in the Avie catalogue: Per Monsieur Pisendel, sonatas by Albinoni, Pisendel and Vivaldi (AV 0018); and Vivaldi in Arcadia, a selection of pastorale concertos and arias (AV 0031). His scholarship and passion for the works of the Red Priest marry with his dazzling virtuosity and evident glee on his third Avie offering, Music for the Chapel of the Pietà. Vivaldi’s infamous output during his time at the girl’s orphanage Ospedale della Pietà was complemented for a time when he served as the Maestro di Coro at the Pietà, producing the enchanting Salve Regina and the rich Laudate Pueri, presented here with the stunning soprano Mhairi Lawson. The instrumental works, which include two novel concerti for violin and organ, were almost certainly written for intervals in the Pietà’s church services.