Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #99530 in Digital Music Album
• Published on: 2000-06-13
• Released on: 2005-12-27
• Running time: 0 seconds

Customer Reviews

Vibrant Vivaldi
Vivaldi is played with excitement by Europa Galante, a string and woodwind orchestra 13 strong here. Some collections of Vivaldi concertos can sound a bit monotonous, but not this carefully selected group of emotively titled short pieces. Instrumentation is varied, the playing is enthusiastic and energetic as needed, and the strings really bite in the staccato "Sea Tempest," the waves slapping hard on the boat. The 6-movement "Night" is remarkably eerie and ghostly, particularly if you can cleanse your ears of all the chromatic pieces written since and try to listen with 18th century expectations. RV 234 is full of unsettling "Apprehension" no matter what later music you have heard, displaying a harried and rapidly modulated sense of harmonic uncertainty. The brief notes with the CD are a slightly strange mixture of English and untranslated Italiano. Fresh and well worth listening closely.

lively vivaldi
I'm not a baroque expert as some of the other reviewers seem to be. I do listen to a lot of music and have heard much Vivaldi -- most frequently the Four Seasons warhorse from Opus 8. This Vivaldi is quite enjoyable, very bright and very well played, energetic and well-recorded. My personal favorite was the last work for two cellos. The slow movement is absolutely beautiful. RV 270 is also quite excellent. This is a worthwhile purchase. Sometimes when period groups play his music Vivaldi sounds mummified but not here. Recommended.

Biondi rulez...
I know I have been very negative in my other reviews of Biondi-cds. Actually, I almost take it back!
He is NOT an opera-conductor, period. But he IS a brilliant violinist! His playing in the Vivaldi concertos is just outstanding. The orchestra is also amazing. I really recommends this set of concertos to anyone not familiar with the Biondi legacy!