Johann Georg Pisendel, who later became concertmaster of the famous Dresden Court Orchestra, was fourteen years old when he first came into contact with the music of Antonio Vivaldi. He then immediately immersed himself in his scores. He copied out all of the Venetian's compositions that fell into his hands for his own use in order to practise the violin, an instrument that he himself later mastered. When he later travelled to Italy with the entourage of his lordship, he got to know the 'prete rosso' and the latter took such a shine to his visitor that he gave him a number of concertos and sonatas 'fatto per M. Pisendel' to take home with him. Five of these highly virtuosic, almost explosive concertos come together in these new recordings by Arte dell'Arco with it's soloist and director Federico Guglielmo to create a rousingly inspired testament to a historic friendship between artists.
