Federico Lorka

Recorded in 2002, this release contains a unique program of the complete overtures of all Vivaldi’s operas. As an opera composer, Vivaldi has long been neglected, but these works showcase his great dramatic genius. Performances on period instruments by Modo Antiquo, conducted by Federico Maria Sardelli, one of the foremost specialists in this field, who has also recorded for full price labels such as Naïve and Deutsche Grammophon.

An innovator and a revolutionary composer, its thanks to the Red Priest that the solo concerto made its way through Europe, influencing the likes of J. S. Bach and Handel and the subsequent course of music history. Published in 1714 (or 1716 as most scholars today tend to believe) and reprinted illegally numerous times in pre-copyright Europe, La Stravaganza, Op. 4 contains 12 solo concertos which can be defined as unsurpassed models of their kind, and the manifesto of Vivaldis aesthetic.

Federico Guglielmo and his historical instruments ensemble Larte dellarco turn to sinfonias and sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti and to the same composers short intermezzo farce La Dirindina. The intermezzo was a type of entracte music inserted as comic relief between the acts of court dramas and operas during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This particular farsetta involves the personal relations between a budding opera diva and her teacher; she is vain and reluctant to practice, and he is extremely jealous of her lover.

This is the 45th title in the Vivaldi Edition, 3 years after the first recording dedicated to Vivaldi scores discovered in Europe between 2000 and 2007, now in its 12th year. This second volume features the most recent discoveries in world premiere recordings and will further contribute to complete one of the most fascinating jigsaw puzzles in musical history Federico Maria Sardelli is a member of the musicological committee of the Istituto Italiano Antonio Vivaldi at the Fondazione Cini in Venice, for which he has published numerous scholarly essays. In July 2007 Peter Ryom chose him to continue his monumental work of cataloguing the music of Antonio Vivaldi; since then, Sardelli has been the editor of the Vivaldi Werkverzeichnis (RV).