The general perception of Vivaldi- who wrote more than 500 concertos- is still that of a serene composer of the Italian Baroque, a great Perpetuum mobile- possibly even an endless Rondo Veneziano. And yet for connoisseurs, the “Prete rosso” left a unique, almost inconceivable output within which we can soon lose our bearings. Travelling in this musical paradise drove even a genius like Igor Stravinsky to his oft-quoted quip: “he wrote one concerto 400 times.” The chamber music, which has never met with the recognition it deserves, is even trickier. The cello sonatas are a particularly striking case in point. Superficially they all follow the same pattern-four movements in the same order (Largo-Allegro-Largo-Allegro), almost like the first minimal music. Yet each of the nine sonatas is an individual masterpiece. Here Vivaldi proves himself the composer of a virtuosic yet spiritualized music, whose wealth of melodies and deep earnestness are as beguiling as their elegant and dignified beauty, which blends vitality with poetry.
