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'The performances by Rachel Podger are crackling with vitality and executed with consistent brilliance as well as a kind of relish in virtuosity that catches the showy spirit, the self-conscious extravagance, of this particular set of works. Whether or not Vivaldi ever supplied all of the music for any such occasion is not clear – no complete integrated cycle exists – but he certainly set plenty of Vespers texts, enough at any rate for Rinaldo Alessandrini and scholar Frédéric Delaméa to put together this rich programme of delights.' Read the review 'No, not the "Vivaldi Vespers", nor even a reconstruction of a specific event, but a kind of "sacred concert" in Vespers form, of the sort that Venetian churches in Vivaldi’s time – ever aware of the power of music to swell a congregation – were wont to mount in the name of worship.
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Soloists, Concerto Italiano / Rinaldo Alessandrini Vespri Solenni per la Festa dell'Assunzione di Maria Vergine The orchestral sound, as always with La Serenissima, achieves bright attractiveness and vivacity without feeling the need to pursue the taut energy of some other groups.
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They are played with skill and taste, lapsing only when the bassoon overpowers the flute in the slow movement of RV438. The German string quartet Salut Salon have made the Presto from Summer into a stormy contest! Spot the references to James Bond, Bach, and anything in between in their ingenious arrangement.'Here the three solo instruments come and go in various combinations, always pleasing us and never outstaying their welcome.
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Recomposed by Max Richter places Vivaldi’s famous concertos in a contemporary context, playing tricks on your memory of the originals. Together they add improvised passages to the original score. He is joined by the Palestine Strings and members of the World Orchestra for Peace. The British violinist still performs it today, and this clip of him at last year's BBC Proms captures his raw energy and passion for the piece. Nigel Kennedy’s recording of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons from 1989 is one of the best-selling classical recordings of all time.
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