ASTER'S YOICE” i$ BM = :

Aub onc | ae re

i St ert

RMSE SSNS.

RES

ee

SER CIS SENT:

Sassteer

nace

esha

ausaante

- Vivaldi—IL CIMENTO DELL’ARMONIA E DELL’INVENZIONE, Op. 8: CONCERTOS Nos. 5, 6, 7,8 SOCIETA CORELLI + Aldo Redditi, Violinist

Mono LM-2743

Stereo LSC-2743

“,.,one of the few dedicated ensembles responsible for today’s revival of baroque music,” Founded in 1951, the Societa Corelli is composed of twelve strings—four

first and three second violins, two violas, two cellos and a double bass—and

a piano or harpsichord. The group performs without a conductor, a fact

which makes their vital yet sensitive performances even more redoubtable.

One of the few dedicated ensembles responsible for today’s revival of ba-

roque music, this chamber orchestra has played throughout the world, from

India, Japan and New Zealand to North, Central and South America.

The violin soloist of the Societa Corelli, Aldo Redditi, was born in Turin.

He was graduated from the Conservatory there and then completed his

studies in Salzburg. He has appeared in concert in many of the capital cities

of the world, winning recognition from both public and critics alike.

She Che She She Bho She She he Bh Bho She Che Che he Sho he Che he She he ee he The concertos on this record are only four of over 440 written by the prolific

baroque composer Antonio Vivaldi. In addition to his concerti, Vivaldi com-

posed over forty operas, seventy-three sonatas and twenty-three sinfonias.

During his lifetime, Venetian theaters produced more of his operas than those

of any other composer. Today, however, he is known only through a few of

his instrumental works.

Vivaldi’s birth date has been placed around 1675. He was born in Venice,

at that time the music hub of the world. And he was born into a family

where music was a major influence. Antonio, one of four sons, was educated

for a combined career of music and the priesthood. He began his ecclesiastical

duties in 1703, but poor health prevented him from ever fully assuming them.

Delicate health, however, did not stem his musical career. He became

associated with the Ospedale della Pieta (Hospital of Pity) in Venice, which

sheltered and raised orphaned and abandoned girls. Music was part of their

education. There were four such institutions in the city, and they vied jeal-

ously for musical honors. During his thirty years of service at the Pieta as a

conductor, composer and teacher, Vivaldi’s works became known and loved

throughout Italy.

His prolific genius spun out a fantastic number of sparkling, fluid com-

positions in a variety of musical forms. His work in the concerto form alone

distinguishes him as one of the world’s greatest composers. The concerto

had made its appearance only in the last two decades of the seventeenth

century. Vivaldi’s works brought the form to a clarity and complexity which

enriched and perfected it for the centuries to follow. In bright, fresh scores

Vivaldi made splendid use of the firm bass and florid treble which character-

ized the concerto. He was the first composer to give the slow movement equal

importance with the two Allegros between which it is sandwiched.

Il Cimento

The four concertos recorded here are part of a twelve-concerto cycle

entitled 1 Cimento dell’ Armonia e dell’ Invenzione (The Contest Between

Harmony and Invention). The first four of the Cimento are the famous Sea-

sons, all of which carry descriptive titles. Vivaldi followed through with titles

for the first two concertos heard here.

Concerto No. 5 in E-Flat is called Storm at Sea. The title is a curious one,

since the work is neither sinister nor dark and conjures up none of the feeling

of a rolling, turbulent sea usually associated with such a phrase. If it is a

tempest at all, it is one as painted by Turner rather than by Ryder. Hearing

it, one feels as though he is sailing through a pearl-misty salt spray in a

jeweled ship. Two joyful Allegro movements are barely separated by the

Largo, which lasts only sixteen beats.

The C major Concerto No. 6 bears the title Pleasure. And pleasure it is.

The first phrase is simply shimmering; it establishes a crystal, airy mood. The

Largo is a Siciliana, a melancholy movement borrowed from Neapolitan

opera. It seems rather funereal after the delightful Allegro, as if suddenly in

the middle of summer all the leaves turned gold and began quietly to fall.

The third movement is worth waiting for, however. It is sprightly and engag-

ing, and puts us back in the midst of meadows, flowers and crisp, cool streams.

The seventh concerto, in D minor, is heavier in feeling than either No. 5

or 6. The first movement is inventive and thickly patterned. Solo-tutti tension

is masterfully handled. The Largo does not interrupt the feeling of deft in-

tricacy in this work, and when the final Allegro bursts forth one has the feel-

ing the composition is a whole, all the parts of which are very compatible.

Concerto No. § is in G minor. Melodically speaking, it is not one of

Vivaldi’s more inventive compositions, but as in No. 7, there is an interesting

tension between the solo and ensemble parts.

Notes by Gail Madonia

© 1964, Radio Corporation of America ¢ Printed in U.S.A.