A sparkling opening to the Winter Festival, an evening of dramatic arias and flickering baroque harmonies. La Serenissima explores two sides of Vivaldi: the energetic young man and the older, crafty composer adapting to fit fashionable Neapolitan tastes as music from early opera successes is contrasted with sophisticated concertos from later in his career.
La Serenissima directed by violinist Adrian Chandler, with Sally Bruce-Payne (mezzo-soprano).
Vivaldi
Sinfonia to 'L’Incoronazione di Dario', RV700
‘Io sento in questo seno’ (from 'Arsilda'), RV700
‘Ferri, ceppi, sangue, morte’ (from 'L’Incoronazione di Dario'), RV719
‘Sentirò fra ramo’ (from 'L’Incoronazione di Dario'), RV719
Concerto ‘Il Grosso Mogul’ for violin, strings and continuo, RV208
Concerto for violin, strings and continuo in B flat, RV367
‘Quel rossor ch’in volto miri’ (from 'Motezuma'), RV723
‘In mezzo alla procella’ (from 'Motezuma'), RV723
Concerto for violin, strings and continuo in C, RV191
(Note: at 6pm, a 30-minute Insight. Stravinsky supposedly said 'Vivaldi did not write 400 concertos; he wrote one concerto 400 times.' La Serenissima director Adrian Chandler introduces the evening’s programme by discussing the man and music behind this myth. Free to concert ticket holders.)