Vivaldi Fida Ninfa

Anna Prohaska’s recital takes us into the moss-carpeted dreamworlds of Ariosto, Ovid, Shakespeare and Tasso. The theme is transformation, by love or magic or a combination of the two. Arcangelo’s instrumental playing is reliably interesting, sometimes too interesting (Jonathan Cohen is not a ‘less is more’ director). But the most effective enchantment occurs when Prohaska stops trying to fit her dryish, coolish voice into a Patricia Petitbon-shaped presentation box.

This 3CD box unites three recitals that showcase the virtuosity, elegance and expressivity of mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux. Together, the programmes, recorded between 2003 and 2009, offer a survey of the repertoire that has figured most strongly in Genaux’s career – music from the 18th and early 19th centuries by Vivaldi, Handel, Hasse, Rossini and Donizetti. The spectacular recital of arias by Vivaldi, ‘Pyrotechnics’ was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2010.

A lively re-telling of Vivaldi's life through a selection of his violin concertos, from perhaps the most exciting young Baroque violinist around - including a number of world premiere recordings, and a gorgeous recent rediscovery.

A lively re-telling of Vivaldi's life through a selection of his violin concertos, from perhaps the most exciting young Baroque violinist around - including a number of world premiere recordings, and a gorgeous recent rediscovery.

The first DIVOX production with the "Virtuosi delle Muse" is devoted to Vivaldi's opera oeuvre. It presents Vivaldi's opera overtures not only in a form that incorporates the latest findings of Vivaldi research, but also in a new sound interpretation: thanks to a variety of tone colors, a wealth of orchestral articulations, and dynamics that are clear and rich in contrast, these overtures strikingly convey the action and atmosphere of the stage work they precede – whereby they date from a time when the "overture" did not yet exist as an acoustical preview of the operatic plot. The use of original instruments such as the viola d'amore, which was never again used in the context of Vivaldi's operas, is also an innovation in the present-day performance practice of Vivaldi's works.

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.

Naïve's Vivaldi! features Canadian contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux in selections from Vivaldi operas and an excerpted version of his Stabat Mater, RV 621, limited just to the alto arias. All of this material is drawn from Naïve's standing catalog of Vivaldi recordings with the Ensemble Matheus, to which Lemieux has been a star contributor. Her work in duets with Philippe Jaroussky is duly noted for its resultant and memorable fireworks; some of these moments are included, along with a little bit of her work alongside popular soprano Sandrine Piau.