Naïve’s Vivaldi Edition, now at 25 volumes and counting, is beginning to take on the proportions of a major cultural achievement. This new sampler release—generously mostly filled with arias, plus a few overtures, and concerto movements—demonstrates how comprehensively Naïve has done its homework. The performances by leading Baroque artists like Magdalena Kozena, Sara Mingardo, Rinaldo Alessandrini and ensembles like L’Astrée, the Freiburger Barockorchester and the Sonatori della Gioiosa Marca are consistently musically passionate, musicologically cutting-edge, and technically brilliant. The sound is often of audiophile quality. As a result, this is Vivaldi, perhaps as you have never heard before, who dominates the proceedings.
As Frédéric Delaméa lays out in the liner notes: “Impetuous, ardent, excessive, prodigious in his unbridled energy—Vivaldi was all of that throughout, in both life and works.” And Delaméa makes an especially strong case for the composer’s operatic works: “As flamboyant as his mop of red hair, the Red Priest seems to have understood, even if he did not experience, all the passions of the soul, from the noblest to the very blackest. On page after page of his operas, the formidable pulsation of his writing—vital energy transformed into dramatic image—is used to depict the most diverse situations, the subtlest and most complex states of mind. … the impetuous rage of Aristea, the warlike frenzy of the Assyrian soldiers in Juditha triumphans, the furious bluster of Orlando the lovelorn paladin in Orlando furioso, the terrified madness of Prince Licida in L’Olimpiade … ”
For the music lover, this sampler gives tantalizing tastes of the musical pyrotechnics Vivaldi could barely contain within the conventional forms he worked in (pyrotechnics which Bach would unleash in cycles like the solo violin and cello music). For audiophiles, it gives a stunning example of how Baroque musicians have helped establish the highest sonic standards.
If you’re like me, and count Vivaldi as more than just a pretty face, you can take heart in the fact that Naïve plan to issue another 50 recordings in this series over the next ten years including at least one opera a year. It is worth mentioning that this extraordinary project is a reconstruction of Vivaldi’s personal library as it now resides in the National Library in Turin. Strongly recommended unless you have already been collecting the set, in which case it makes a splendid (mid-priced) stocking stuffer!
– Laurence Vittes
