Search - Vivaldi, Donizetti, Klein :: Music for Cello & Violin

A bit on the Romantic side.

Alexander Mendez | South Pasadena, CA United States | 08/08/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Vivaldi's compositions are not identified on the cd sleeve so here is the list of compositions:

RV40,324,547,544

RV 40 is the e-minor cello sonata, but you'll notice that on the cd it says concerto for cello and orchestra. This is indeed the case. The cello sonata has extra parts added to it to make it a concerto. I believe that the edition used was probably the d'Indy transcription of this cello sonata. The transcription was made in the 1920s. Since the sonata is fairly romantic it was very popular in its concerto form up until 1950. So it is surprising to see this modern recording of this transcription. The rest of the cd is in keeping with this tradition. The works are not interpreted in a very Romantic style with lots of echo. I can't say that this is even close to being a favorite recording of my mine and its not because of the performance style. I really, really don't like the echo. This sounds great when you are actually at a concert, but not so on a cd. Everything is played just a little too smoothly for Vivaldi, which is music that really should be played in a wild crazy fashion. So if you like Vivaldi played simply this is a cd that is perfect for you. I would recommend it only because it has that d'Indy transcription, which is definitely something to be heard, although you can find it in earlier recordings that are probably of higher quality. Still, it is not a bad cd overall."