British historical-instrument group La Serenissima has issued Vivaldi recordings that emerge from the crowd in several respects. They include unusual repertory: The French Connection 2 contains two world-premiere recordings: one a completed new version of an existing concerto (the Flute Concerto "Il Gran Mogol" in A minor, RV 431a), and the other a terrific, recently unearthed late work (the Violin Concerto in B flat major, RV 365). They find thematic connections within Vivaldi's mostly abstract instrumental repertory. The ...
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British historical-instrument group La Serenissima has issued Vivaldi recordings that emerge from the crowd in several respects. They include unusual repertory: The French Connection 2 contains two world-premiere recordings: one a completed new version of an existing concerto (the Flute Concerto "Il Gran Mogol" in A minor, RV 431a), and the other a terrific, recently unearthed late work (the Violin Concerto in B flat major, RV 365). They find thematic connections within Vivaldi's mostly abstract instrumental repertory. The "French Connection" aspect here may be a little forced in that the French features of the works here are not of coherent kinds, and include such miscellaneous connections as the fact that the RV 431a concerto was written on French music paper. Mostly the French Connection involves the use of a dotted overture or dance rhythm, both of which can be found in other Vivaldi works. No matter. This is an unusually exciting collection of Vivaldi concertos. A third distinctive feature of La...
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