Vivaldi, A.: Bassoon Concertos (Complete), Vol. 5

Featuring

Béla Drahos
Tamás Benkócs
Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia
Antonio Vivaldi

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Compositional Technique

Vivaldi wrote 39 concertos for the bassoon, an unusually high number for an instrument that was not a common solo instrument at the time.

Recording & Production

The Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia, the orchestra on this recording, was formed in 1992 specifically as a recording orchestra for Naxos.

Composer Biography

Antonio Vivaldi, known as the "red priest" due to his hair color, was born in Venice in 1678 and was ordained as a priest in 1703.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Vivaldi claimed he could compose a new work faster than a copyist could write it out, demonstrating his immense facility and capacity for variety within the three-movement concerto form.

Performer Biography

Tamás Benkócs, the bassoonist on this album, was appointed principal bassoonist with the Budapest Festival Orchestra at the age of twenty.

Composition History

Vivaldi was appointed violin-master at the Ospedale della Pietà, a charitable institution in Venice for orphaned or illegitimate girls with a strong musical tradition.