Search - Antonio Vivaldi, Nicholas Kraemer, City of London Sinfonia :: Vivaldi: Cello Concerti, Vol. 4

As ideal as you are ever likely to find.

John Austin | Kangaroo Ground, Australia | 02/22/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I haven't found a dud amongst the Naxos Vivaldi issues yet. This CD is the fourth and final in a complete set of the Cello Concerti. Far from being a dud, this CD, and its companion volumes are as ideal as you are ever likely to find. The all English personnel, recorded in a London church in 1994, ensure that nobody need bother to duplicate these works in any future recording. As for the concerti themselves, they are all in three movements and come in at under ten minutes each. Those familiar with "The Four Seasons" will know what to expect. All seem fresh, interesting and appealing. The A Minor, RV 420, differs from the regular quick-slow-quick movement pattern, having an andante first movement. The wonder is how Vivaldi, who wrote hundreds of such concerti for almost all solo instruments except the trumpet, never repeated himself. Perhaps, if he did, ... shoppers might tell me about it."

Sweetness and light

David A. Baer | Indianapolis, IN USA | 01/09/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For this reviewer's ears, there is no more consistently joyful music than that of Antonio Vivaldi, the Venetian Baroque master. I find him particularly born to compose for the cello.



So, apparently, do the folks at Naxos, for this is no less than volume 4 of a project intended to cover all the Vivaldi cello concerti. Naxos is really on with this series, highlighted by Raphael Wallfisch's cello and the ever appropriate Baroque interpretation of Nicholas Kraemer (from the harpsichord, presumably, rather than with baton from the podium) and the City of London Sinfonia.



A pleasant and predictable brevity characterizes these works. Vivaldi generally created a three-movement symmetry by tossing an adagio or largo movement between two allegros. The Sinfonia goes at it with apparently effortless ease. Though there is artistry and technique to be plumbed here, this CD can also be approached as ear candy.



How sweet it is."

Vivaldi: Cello Concerti, Vol. 4

Paul R. Joines | Ogden, UT | 08/28/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The performance was excellent. The only reasion I did not give it a 5 was that the use of spicatto was not in the Baroque style. I still enjoy it very much."