Rachel Podger

Rachel Podger - Antonio Vivaldi - L'Estro Armonico (2015) [2CD] {Channel Classics}
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© 2015 Channel Classics | CCS SA 36515
Classical / Concerto / Violin

L'estro armonico, the title of Vivaldi's first published collection of concertos, is commonly translated into English as "harmonic fancy." However, the word oestrus actually means "heat, stimulus, vehement impulse or frenzy" - a better allusion to the startling passion and energy of these twelve concertos, which are widely considered to be among the most influential Baroque orchestral music ever written. Following on their successful and widely acclaimed releases of Vivaldi's La Cetra and La Stravaganza, this release by Rachel Podger and her ensemble Brecon Baroque captures all of the vitality and freshness of Vivaldi's invention: its rhythmic energy, melodic and harmonic intensity, textural sensuousness, technical brilliance and dramatic flair.

Two rarely recorded Haydn violin concertos frame Rachel Podger’s performance of Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante in E flat on this disc. Both concertos have only string accompaniment, here provided by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and a discreet harpsichord (the player’s name unaccountably omitted from the list of the orchestra personnel in the accompanying booklet). Rachel Podger has chosen to play both concertos on her own Pesarinius violin (1739) that she feels is most suited to the style of these works and few would disagree with her choice. Her agile and spirited playing in the outer movements is complemented by her pure cantilena in the slow movements. As is to be expected, both works are full of baroque idioms and, while neither presents Haydn at his most inventive, they make an enjoyable pairing.

When back in 2003 Rachel Podger’s recording of Vivaldi’s 12 violin concertos Op.4 ‘La Stravaganza’ Vivaldi: La Stravaganza – Podger/Arte Dei Suonatori was released it was universally acclaimed & quickly went on to garner numerous awards from many sections of the music press including Gramophone, Stereophile & The Absolute Sound as well as winning a Diapason d’Or. It is also interesting to note that even on SA-CD.net more than 100 people have recommended that recording. In the intervening years Rachel Podger has widened her recorded repertoire to make further highly regarded recordings of works by Bach, Haydn & Mozart, but she has now made a triumphant return to Vivaldi with this wonderful set of the composer’s 12 Violin Concertos Op.9 known as ‘La Cetra’ .

After recording Vivaldi's set of Violin Concertos 'La Stravaganza', Opus 4, in 2003, Rachel Podger has been immersed in music by Mozart and Bach on disc. But it has now felt right to come back to the Venetian Maestro, whose sense of drama she adores: “This time I chose his opus 9, the set of 12 Violin concertos entitled 'La Cetra'. There are plenty of jewels in this set, just as in 'La Stravaganza', with even higher technical demands made on the soloist including many, often exotic experimental effects.”

Rachel Podger, “the unsurpassed British glory of the baroque violin” (The Times), and Grammy award-winning pianist Christopher Glynn recorded Beethoven’s Sonatas for Violin and Piano nos. 1, 5 and 10. Following the critically acclaimed Mozart/Jones Sonatas Fragment Completions (2021), this Beethoven album marks Podger and Glynn’s second release together.

Brecon Baroque was founded in 2007 by violinist Rachel Podger as resident ensemble at her annual Brecon Baroque Festival.

Among countless interpretations of Vivaldi's Four Seasons, which range from modernized performances for large string orchestra to period-style versions for much leaner ensembles, there are few as pared-down as Rachel Podger's performances with Brecon Baroque. Podger plays the virtuosic solo violin part and directs an ensemble consisting of two violins, one viola, and one cello, supported by a continuo of violone, theorbo, and harpsichord or chamber organ. This might give an impression of extreme austerity or thinness of sound, but the surprising richness of the group's textures suggests that tonal production counts more than the number of players.

Rachel Podger's growing reputation among early-music enthusiasts is buttressed by this set of Bach's sonatas for violin and continuo. Her intonation is always on target, her tone sweet but not cloying. While she shares the understated interpretive stance of so many historically informed performers, she allows the emotions to shine through in, for example, the opening Largo of Sonata No. 5. And where the dancelike elements are to the fore, as in the Allegro of No. 6, she shows she can swing with the best.