Antonio Vivaldi La Stravaganza (biondi)

Europa Galante, under its director Fabio Biondi, recently paid Vivaldi a “fabulous tribute” (in the words of BBC Radio 3) with the Virgin Classics recording of the opera Ercole sul Termodonte, reconstructed by Biondi himself. Now they further expand their rich catalogue of Vivaldi’s works with six concertos – five from La Stravaganza and another in F major – published as a set in London in 1728 by John Walsh and a pillar of the composer’s international fame in his lifetime.

The creator of hundreds of spirited, extroverted instrumental works, Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi is widely recognized as the master of the Baroque instrumental concerto, which he perfected and popularized more than any of his contemporaries. Vivaldi's kinetic rhythms, fluid melodies, bright instrumental effects, and extensions of instrumental technique make his some of the most enjoyable of Baroque music. He was highly influential among his contemporaries and successors: even as esteemed a figure as Johann Sebastian Bach adapted some of Vivaldi's music. Vivaldi's variable textures and dramatic effects initiated the shift toward what became the Classical style; a deeper understanding of his music begins with the realization that, compared with Bach and even Handel, he was Baroque music's arch progressive.