Born: Mar 4, 1678; Italy
Died: Jul 28, 1741; Austria
Period: Baroque
The creator of hundreds of spirited, extroverted instrumental works, Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi is widely recognized as the master of the Baroque instrumental concerto, which he perfected and popularized more than any of his contemporaries. Vivaldi's kinetic rhythms, fluid melodies, bright instrumental effects, and extensions of instrumental technique make his some of the most enjoyable of Baroque music. He was highly influential among hisRead more contemporaries and successors: even as esteemed a figure as Johann Sebastian Bach adapted some of Vivaldi's music. Vivaldi's variable textures and dramatic effects initiated the shift toward what became the Classical style; a deeper understanding of his music begins with the realization that, compared with Bach and even Handel, he was Baroque music's arch progressive. Though not as familiar as his concerti, Vivaldi's stage and choral music is still of value; his sometimes bouncy, sometimes lyrical Gloria in D major (1708) has remained a perennial favorite. His operas were widely performed in his own time.
Details regarding Vivaldi's early life are few. His father was a violinist in the Catherdral of Venice's orchestra and probably Antonio's first teacher. There is much speculation about other teachers, such as Corelli, but no evidence to support this. Vivaldi studied for the priesthood as a young man and was ordained in 1703. He was known for much of his career as "il prete rosso" (the red-haired priest), but soon after his ordination he declined to take on his ecclesiastical duties. Later in life he cited ill health as the reason, but other motivations have been proposed; perhaps Vivaldi simply wanted to explore new opportunties as a composer. It didn't take him long. Landing a job as a violin teacher at a girls' orphanage in Venice (where he would work in one capacity or another during several stretches of his life), he published a set of trio sonatas and another of violin sonatas. Word of his abilities spread around Europe, and in 1711 an Amsterdam publisher brought out, under the title L'estro armonico (Harmonic Inspiration), a set of Vivaldi's concertos for one or more violins with orchestra. These were best sellers (it was this group of concertos that spurred Bach's transcriptions), and Vivaldi followed them up with several more equally successful concerto sets. Perhaps the most prolific of all the great European composers, he once boasted that he could compose a concerto faster than a copyist could ready the individual parts for the players in the orchestra. He began to compose operas, worked from 1718 to 1720 in the court of the German principality of Hessen-Darmstadt, and traveled in Austria and perhaps Bohemia. Throughout his career, he had his choice of commissions from nobility and the highest members of society, the ability to use the best performers, and enough business savvy to try to control the publication of his works, although due to his popularity, many were published without his consent. Later in life Vivaldi was plagued by rumors of a sexual liaison with one of his vocal students, and he was censured by ecclesiastical authorities. His Italian career on the rocks, he headed for Vienna. He died there and was buried as a pauper in 1741, although at the height of his career his publications had earned a comfortable living. Read less
Label: Naxos
Catalog: 8504053
Release Date: 04/13/2018
Number of Discs: 4
Composer:
Frederick Delius,
John Ireland,
Sir Edward Elgar,
William Lloyd Webber
...
Performer:
Julian Lloyd Webber,
John Lenehan,
Jiaxin Lloyd Webber,
Guy Johnston
...
Conductor:
Hans-Peter Hofmann
Orchestra/Ensemble:
English Chamber Orchestra,
European Union Chamber Orchestra
Recommendation
Label: Decca
Catalog: 002012902
Release Date: 03/11/2014
Number of Discs: 11
Composer:
Johann Sebastian Bach,
Antonio Vivaldi,
Luigi Boccherini,
Ferdinando Carulli
...
Performer:
Pepe Romero,
Angel Romero,
Christine Pendrill,
Agustin Leon Ara
...
Conductor:
Iona Brown,
Sir Neville Marriner
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields,
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ens.,
Los Romeros
Label: Naive
Catalog: 30542
Release Date: 10/30/2012
Number of Discs: 6
Composer:
Antonio Vivaldi
Performer:
Sergio Azzolini,
Christophe Coin,
Sébastien Marq,
Anne-Katharina Schreiber
...
Conductor:
Giovanni Antonini,
Rinaldo Alessandrini,
Jean-Christophe Spinosi,
Gottfried Von der Goltz
Orchestra/Ensemble:
L'Aura Soave,
Il Giardino Armonico,
Concerto Italiano
...
Recommendation
Label: Archiv Produktion (Dg)
Catalog: 001676702
Release Date: 05/08/2012
Number of Discs: 7
Composer:
Antonio Vivaldi
Performer:
Simon Standage,
Trevor Pinnock,
Lisa Beznosiuk,
David Reichenberg
...
Conductor:
Trevor Pinnock
Orchestra/Ensemble:
English Concert
Recommendation
Label: Decca
Catalog: 001599302
Release Date: 09/20/2011
Number of Discs: 28
Composer:
Antonio Vivaldi
Performer:
Rohan de Saram,
Franco Gulli,
Salvatore Accardo,
Bruno Canino
...
Conductor:
Christopher Hogwood,
Philip Pickett,
Simon Preston,
Paul Dyer
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Academy of Ancient Music,
I Musici,
New London Consort
...
Label: Hyperion
Catalog: 30027
Release Date: 10/12/2010
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Antonio Vivaldi
Performer:
Roy Goodman,
Paul O'Dette,
Robin Jeffrey
Conductor:
Peter Holman
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Parley of Instruments
Recommendation
Label: Nimbus
Catalog: 2515
Release Date: 03/10/2009
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Antonio Vivaldi,
Johann Sebastian Bach
Performer:
Eliot Fisk,
Albert Fuller,
Frederic Hand,
Louise Schulman
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Orchestra of St. Luke's
Recommendation
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Catalog: 415487
Release Date: 11/06/2008
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Antonio Vivaldi
Performer:
Göran Söllscher,
Patrick Genet,
Thomas Demenga,
Regula Häusler
...
Conductor:
Thomas Füri
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Camerata Bern
Recommendation
Label: Conifer
Catalog: 15909
Release Date: 07/30/2008
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Antonio Vivaldi
Performer:
Kenneth Smith,
Sue Massop,
Nigel Woodhouse,
Lyn Fletcher
Conductor:
Mark Stephenson
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Musici
Recommendation
Label: Archiv Produktion (Dg)
Catalog: 415674
Release Date: 06/04/2008
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Antonio Vivaldi
Performer:
David Reichenberg,
Simon Standage,
Elizabeth Wilcock,
James Tyler
...
Conductor:
Trevor Pinnock
Orchestra/Ensemble:
English Concert
Recommendation
Label: Vanguard
Catalog: 1188
Release Date: 08/12/2003
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
Antonio Vivaldi
Performer:
Daniel Thune,
Anton Heiller,
Jelka Stanic,
Rudolf Klepac
...
Conductor:
Antonio Janigro
Orchestra/Ensemble:
I Solisti di Zagreb