Antonio Vivaldi was a concerto machine, writing more than 500 of them. They’re mostly very similar: three movements, fast-slow-fast, themes introduced by a string orchestra and picked up and slightly elaborated by the soloists. They’re all pretty and charming, but after listening to a few of them, they start to blur together. One of the reasons the Four Seasons is so popular is that they break the mold, being far more romantic and expressive than usual.
Today’s selection is one of his familiar guitar concertos with an unfamiliar arrangement; all the instruments involved are guitars.
All the music from the this series can be found and enjoyed here.
Gorgeous stuff. In fairness to Vivaldi re “blurring together”, people in his day had no way of binge listening to his music.Report
Hey SI! Can I hire you for private consultations? Do you answer public letters? How does this thing work? For example, I’ve been known to binge-listen to my favorite artists, something that can drive everyone around me crazy. Am I insane?Report
Vivaldi can sound sort of cliched it’s true. I sometimes have to remind myself, “When he wrote it, it wasn’t a cliche.”Report
Baroque music gets a bum rap, IMO. Vivaldi was one of its best exponents and there’s a reason we still listen to so much of the Red Priest — it’s really, really good.
This all-guitar arrangement was a really nice find.Report