Antonio Vivaldi, known as the "red priest" due to his hair color, was ordained in 1703 and was a violinist of phenomenal ability.
Vivaldi died in Vienna in relative poverty in 1741, despite having once been worth 50,000 ducats a year.
Vivaldi wrote 39 concertos for the bassoon, an unusually high number for what was then a relatively uncommon solo instrument.
Tamás Benkócs, the bassoon soloist on this album, was appointed principal bassoonist with the Budapest Festival Orchestra at the age of twenty.
The Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia, the orchestra on this recording, was formed in 1992 specifically as a recording orchestra for Naxos.
Vivaldi had a contract with the Ospedale della Pietà, a charitable institution for girls, to compose two new concertos every month from 1723.
Vivaldi perfected the Italian solo concerto form and wrote nearly five hundred concertos, many for violin but also for various other solo instruments.
