Giuliano Carmignola, Venice Baroque Orchestra - Vivaldi, Locatelli, Tartini: Concerto Veneziano (2005) [DD 24bit/96kHz]

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Giuliano Carmignola, Venice Baroque Orchestra - Vivaldi, Locatelli, Tartini: Concerto Veneziano (2005) [DD 24bit/96kHz]

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This disc is really something special. Collectors are so spoiled for choice in the baroque repertoire at present, particularly on period instruments, but even in a glutted market this disc stands out for imaginative repertoire selection and outstanding interpretation. Its particularly gratifying, in these days of complete editions of everything, to see a discerning artist like Giuliano Carmignola choose four remarkably diverse works by three different composers, and simply play the living daylights out of them. The result roundly disproves the notion that Italian baroque violin concertos all sound the same, a point made even more forcefully by imaginative continuo work (on harpsichord, lute, and organ) by the Venice Baroque Orchestra that helps to emphasize each pieces individual character. The two Vivaldi concertos, for example, couldnt be more different. RV 583, subtitled in due cori, is a dialogue between the soloist and the two opposing orchestral groups, sometimes elegant, often virtuosic, and Carmignolas account of the beautiful central chaconne is haunting. The E minor concerto RV 278, on the other hand, is dramatic, passionate, and intense almost to the point of lunacy in its outer movements. The entry of the solo is a moment of high drama that Carmignola clearly relishes, and the entire work often sounds more like one of the more emotive and spasmodic creations of C.P.E. Bach than it does the coolly patterned tune-making of The Red Priest. The orchestra attacks this later work with an unbridled ferocity that never turns crude, and both concertos enjoy the distinction of ranking among Vivaldis largest, lasting nearly 15 minutes apiece.