Vivaldi: Concertos for the Emperor

Featuring

Andrew Manze
The English Concert
Antonio Vivaldi

Did you know?

1/7

Compositional Technique

The concerto RV 286, also known as 'Concerto per la solennità di San Lorenzo', features an endless chiming by the second violins in its third movement, thought to represent bells.

Composition History

Vivaldi presented Emperor Charles VI with a manuscript set of twelve concertos also entitled La cetra, which was different from the printed Op. 9 of the same name.

Historical Context

Emperor Charles VI, like his grandfather Ferdinand III and father Leopold I, maintained the Habsburg tradition of employing Italian artists, especially Venetians, at his court.

Composition History

In 1728, Antonio Vivaldi traveled to Trieste to meet Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI, who was known to be a generous patron of music and an able composer himself.

Interpretation

For the concerto L'amoroso (RV 271), the performers chose to omit the harpsichord and use a baroque guitar for the continuo, muting the entire orchestra for a different performing style.

Interpretation

This recording includes improvised cadenzas and ornaments in the slow movements, reflecting the highly developed and important art of improvisation in Vivaldi's time.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Vivaldi was often more daring and experimental when composing concertos not intended for publication, as printed music at the time was primarily a commercial venture.