Antonio Vivaldi - Concerti per Fagotto III

Discover the fascinating and unique atmosphere of Vivaldi's pioneering bassoon concertos. This album from Naive's acclaimed Vivaldi Edition features a selection of the finest works for bassoon ever composed in the Baroque period. Soloist Sergio Azzolini is like a magician, creating colour, chiaroscuro and rhythmic drive.
This is the third volume of a projected recording of all thirty-nine of Vivaldi's surviving complete bassoon concerti, all to be performed by Sergio Azzolini on authentic Vivaldi-era bassoons or precise modern replicas thereof.
Azzolini himself owns probably the best collection of historical bassoons outside of museums. Born in 1967 in Bolzano, Italy, Azzolini is as virtuosic as any bassoonist I've ever heard , but what makes his playing extraordinary is his sense of his instrument's lyrical, almost-vocal capabilities.

'Azzolini is a consummate master of his instrument and no matter what difficulties Vivaldi puts before the performer, Azzolini will transform it into something wonderful - his virtuosity is astounding, but he is equally gifted in his ability to shape melodies into something approach-ing enchantments.' (Early Music Review)

'He is a baroque musician on a high level of imagination and inspiration [and] makes these concertos all the more attractive and fascinating. This is music-making to cherish.' (Gramophone)


The Vivaldi Edition, a recording venture conceived by the Italian musicologist Alberto Basso and the independent label Naïve, is one of the most ambitious recording projects of the twenty-first century.
Its principal objective is to record the massive collection of Vivaldi autograph manuscripts preserved today in the Biblioteca Nazionale in Turin, some 450 works. Incredibly, this is the private library of scores Vivaldi had at home at the time of his death in Vienna in 1741 and includes his extant operas, hundreds of concertos, sacred compositions and cantatas. Much of this music has not been heard since the 18th century.

Details are in my Naive Complete Edition here: AVAX

Follows a list of the works I posted until now: