Erik C++

Stravinsky famously quipped that Vivaldi didn’t write 400 concertos, rather he wrote one concerto 400 times. Rather unfair, though witty. For many people though, Vivaldi is the composer of The Four Seasons (the first four of the twelve concertos Op.8), and maybe the famous Gloria. He is a composer who repays closer attention. There are some superb concertos in his large output, and some of them were sufficiently striking enough to attract the attention of J.S. Bach and Johann Quantz.

As the old saying goes, "the third time's the charm." This is indeed the third time the German label Accent has issued this coupling of Domenico Scarlatti's Stabat Mater with João Rodrigues Esteves' Missa a oito voces. The first time was in 1990, when the recording by Currende under the leadership of Erik van Nevel was new, and the second in 1998 as part of a box set containing this and several recordings by Concerto Palatino. No complaints here, though, as this is one of the finest discs Accent has to offer.