Sergio Azzolini Vivaldi

Like each of its two predecessors in Naive's bizarrely costumed, irresistible Vivaldi bassoon concertos series, Sergio Azzolini and his back to the future original instrument crew find beauties in the music written for the bassoon that defy gravity. Interleaved with the haunting minor key songs and harmonies are courtly B flat expressions of affection and pleasure. The recordings, made at the Church of the Madonna della Formigola, Cortifella Pieve, Brescia, are audiophile as always. The great notes by Sergio Azzolini are titled Mystery of the Bassoon. The bassoon is in fact the instrument assigned the largest number of solo concertos after those written for the violin, the composer's own instrument.

Like many of the performances in previous installments, these–three bassoon concertos, two for oboe, and one double concerto for oboe and bassoon–also are characterized by widely contrasting tempos, sharply delineated dynamics, and especially here, a stylish in-your-face approach. From bassoonist Sergio Azzolini’s quite audible intake of breath before beginning the Concerto in D minor and continuing throughout this captivating program, rarely have Vivaldi’s wind concertos been rendered with such a consistent sense of urgency, vitality, and well, attitude.

The Vivaldi Edition is up to its astounding 54th volume with Concerti per Fagotto IV, and this collection introduces a selection of the finest Baroque works for bassoon. In a magical performance, the bassoonist Sergio Azzolini along with the L'Onda Armonica ensemble creates an indispensable recording that entices us into the pieces and compels us through each as if on a journey.

Only now are we fully aware of the true immensity of Vivaldis concerto repertoire. The violin is by no means the only instrument he favored: the place of the bassoon in his work catalogue is remarkable for its size and stylistic homogeneity, as well as for his solistic treatment of an instrument previously confined to the continuo. Seven new concertos here join the twenty-six already recorded in the first four volumes of the Vivaldi Edition, an anthology Sergio Azzolini embarked on in 2009 with LAura Soave, and now builds on with LOnda Armonica.

Thirty-seven completed and two unfinished bassoon concertos, more than for any other instrument except the violin; Vivaldi must have had one terrific fagottista in that ospedale . Well, Sergio Azzolino is pretty good, too.
Michael Talbot’s sensible notes observe that the bassoon concertos seem to come from the latter part of Vivaldi’s career, though, as with much of Vivaldi’s work, exact dating is seldom possible. He attributes this to a void in Italy between the fading of the dulcian from the standard instrumental ensemble and the slow introduction there of the Franco-German bassoon.

Fireworks, virtuosity and bravura pieces are essential ingredients of Vivaldi’s concerto oeuvre. Discover or rediscover Vivaldi’s concertos played by the most prestigious artists.

Bij Venetiaanse muziek van rond 1700 is de eerste naam die bij je opkomt: Antonio Vivaldi. Geen twijfel mogelijk. Moeilijker wordt het als je het nummer twee moet noemen: Albinoni? Marcello? Tartini? Voor luitist (en dirigent) Ivano Zaneghi was er maar één die qua roem en vaardigheden de vergelijking met Vivaldi kon doorstaan, en dat was Baldassare Galuppi (1706-1785). De verfijning in muzikale expressie en de elegante stijl van zijn wereldlijke en geestelijke composities zijn inderdaad opmerkelijk. Sommige van de stukken op deze cd bleven ongepubliceerd. De cantate 'La scusa', vermoedelijk uit de jaren 1770, is bewaard in een manuscript in de Venetiaanse Marciana bibliotheek.

Johann Friedrich Fasch was a contemporary of Johann Sebastian Bach, and that has seriously hampered the interest in his music. It was the German musicologist Hugo Riemann, who at the beginning of the 20th century made an attempt to restore his reputation.

Cellist Christophe Coin has embarked on a project to record all of Vivaldi’s cello concertos. With this third instalment (the sixty-first volume of the naïve label’s complete Vivaldi Edition) he now has twenty cello concertos under his belt. Christophe Coin has become a noted authority in the work of the brilliant, tirelessly prolific Venetian composer, performing it with a host of different ensembles, such as L’Onda Armonica, the ensemble founded by Sergio Azzolini. As with the first two volumes he alternates between the cello and the violoncello piccolo, providing a palette of highly varied sound colours.