Archiv Produktion provide
five more of Vivaldi’s late violin concertos
all said to be world-premiere recordings.
Carmignola and Marcon
with their Venetian orchestra have since
2003 recorded exclusively on Deutsche
Grammophon’s Archiv Produktion label.
This issue follows on the heels of their
three Sony Classical releases in the
Vivaldi series of The Four Seasons
SK 51352 and two albums of previously
‘unrecorded’ Vivaldi concertos on SK
87733 and SK 89362.
I believe this may
prove to be the golden age for recordings
of period-instrument Vivaldi. Undoubtedly
the earlier pioneering interpretations
of Vivaldi and late-baroque music in
general using period-instruments were
dictated by the severe limitations of
their instruments. These must have felt
so confining to the players; as if they
were all wearing strait-jackets. Consequently
the performance style often came across
as technically mechanical, rather lacklustre,
frequently insipid and even sterile.
A new generation of
specialist performers, such as these
explore and exploit the strength of
their period-instruments rather than
being restricted by the weaknesses.
They are one of several outstanding
specialist period-instrument ensembles
that have come to prominence at the
cutting-edge of the late-baroque scene
in the last ten or so years.
Other notable specialist
period-instrument ensembles who have
produced excellent Vivaldi recordings
include: the Concerto Italiano under
Rinaldo Alessandrini; Europa Galante
under baroque violinist Fabio Biondi;
Arte Dei Suonatori under Rachel Podger
on baroque violin; L'Arte dell'Arco
under baroque violinist Federico Guglielmo;
Ensemble Explorations under baroque
cellist Roel Dieltiens; the Freiburger
Barockorchester under baroque violinist
Gottfried von der Goltz; The English
Concert under baroque violinist Andrew
Manze and baroque violinist Viktoria
Mullova with Il Giardino Armonico under
the direction of Giovanni Antonini.
Treviso-born Carmignola
has been a professor of violin at the
Venice Conservatory for over a decade.
He is a leading exponent of the baroque
violin style, particularly in Italian
music of the 18th century. He is a stylish
player; as stylish as the fine Romeo
Gigli suits that he wears. Without any
hint of pretentiousness professor Carmignola’s
playing is classy and sophisticated
with an innate serious professionalism,
as displayed at a 2002 BBC Proms concert
when disturbed by noise from a member
of the audience he turned around and
glared towards the perpetrator. Founded
in 1997, with some of Italy's finest
instrumentalists, the Venice Baroque
Orchestra are directed by baroque scholar,
organist and harpsichordist Andrea Marcon
who leads the continuo. The Venetian
orchestra focuses on Italian music of
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries,
and the ongoing rediscovery of Italian
Baroque opera.
Some two hundred and
fifty of Vivaldi’s scores are violin
concertos, making up well over a third
of his prolific work-list. Apparently
there are still a number of these that
have not yet been recorded and this
release includes claims for five such
works. Vivaldi’s scores are all preserved
in complete and reliable manuscripts
in the massive collection at the Biblioteca
Nazionale Universitaria of Turin and
in every case have been published in
a modern edition several decades ago.
Vivaldi biographer Michael Talbot informs
me that he believes there is no special
reason why these concertos should not
have been recorded previously; if that
is actually the situation.
The diversity of Vivaldi’s
writing is astonishing: the Violin Concerto
RV 217 begins with a fugato and
RV 325 exploits the device of echo effects.
The opening tutti of RV 190 recalls
a French overture with its dotted rhythms,
while containing a highly contrastive
episode in C minor which, remote and
contemplative, is not taken up again
in the course of the movement. Elsewhere,
Vivaldi creates a chiaroscuro
effect by his use of modal harmonies
in the ritornellos of RV 190,
217 and 331. In RV 190 and 217 he avails
himself of contrasting tempos, and in
RV 325 he tricks the listener with his
extreme modulations. In the ritornello
of the final movement of the RV 217
he creates the effect of pealing bells
by means of a rapidly repeated syncopated
note at the fifth, an idea also found
in his cantata RV 682 in a passage
that describes a desperate lover who
despairs of seeing his constancy rewarded.
Vivaldi’s variety of
accompaniments are also remarkable,
the rhythmic invention, such as the
triplet passages in RV 190, the many
accents on the weak beats and, the extraordinary
technical range of the soloist’s part,
in which right hand and left hand alike
are exploited to the full. These technical
complexities culminate in RV 190 and
331, whereas the other concertos reveal
a more clear-cut character: with its
two movements marked Allegro molto,
RV 325 suggests both exaltation and
challenge, while RV 217 is theatrical,
a buffa piece at the very limits
of virtuosic and emotional grotesquerie.
RV 303, finally, is markedly rustic
in tone.
At ease with the technical
demands of these scores Carmignola clearly
loves this music and plays with a controlled
power and expression expertly blended
with a certain panache. The allegro
movements are played with a smouldering
vitality and an impressive boldness,
yet constantly remaining stylish and
polished. In Carmignola’s hands the
slow central movements are lyrical and
highly appealing, akin to sacred meditations
with several episodes of outstanding
beauty. These are interpretations that
never over-characterise Vivaldi’s exciting
range of emotions. Carmignola’s security
of technique is astonishing and his
18th century anonymous Italian violin
provides an attractive silvery tone.
The soloist and the Venice Baroque Orchestra
demonstrate that they have reached a
supreme solidarity of ensemble. I was
impressed with the colour and variety
of Andrea Marcon’s continuo realisation
with the harpsichord employed together
with the lute.
The engineers are to
be congratulated for providing a well
balanced sound that is cool and clear.
The high standard liner notes add to
the excellent presentation of the release.
Vivaldi lovers will not want to be without
this beautifully performed and recorded
release.
Michael Cookson
Giuliano Carmignola (baroque violin) 
