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CD reviews
Antonio VIVALDI: Motets & cantatas
[I] "Sacroprofano"
Tim Mead, alto
Arcangelo
Dir: Jonathan Cohen
rec: July 1 - 4, 2021, London, St John the Evangelist, Upper Norwood
Alpha - 914 (© 2023) (72'05")
Liner-notes: E/D/F; lyrics - translations: E/F
Cover, track-list & booklet
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Amor, hai vinto (RV 683);
Cessate, omai cessate (RV 684);
Concerto in d minor (RV 128);
Nisi Dominus (RV 608);
Salve Regina in g minor (RV 618);
Sinfonia al Santo Sepolcro in b minor (RV 169)
Katharina Spreckelsen, Sarah Humphrys, oboe;
Joe Qiu, bassoon;
Sarah Sexton, Simone Pirri, Colin Scobie, Sophia Prodanova, Beatrice Philips, Davina Clarke, Jane Gordon, Florence Cooke, violin;
Bojan Čičić, viola d'amore;
Oliver Wilson, Aliye Cornish, viola;
Jonathan Byers, Gavin Kibble, cello;
Timothy Amherst, double bass;
Sergio Bucheli, Elizabeth Kenny, theorbo, guitar;
Jonathan Cohen, harpsichord;
Tom Foster, harpsichord, organ
[II] "Sacro furore - Stabat mater, Nisi Dominus, Concerti"
Carlo Vistoli, alto
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
Dir: Georg Kallweit
rec: July 2023 Berlin, b-sharp
Harmonia mundi - HMM 902383 (© 2024) (67'51")
Liner-notes: E/D/F; lyrics - translations: E/D/F
Cover, track-list & booklet
Spotify
Concerto in d minor 'Madrigalesco' (RV 129);
Concerto in g minor (RV 157);
In furore iustissimae irae (RV 626)
Nisi Dominus (RV 608);
Sinfonia al Santo Sepolcro in b minor (RV 169);
Stabat mater (RV 621)
Georg Kallweit, Emmanuelle Bernard, Javier Aguilar Bruno, Erik Dorset, Edi Kotlyar, Dörte Wetzel, Edburg Forck, violin;
Clemens-Maria Nuszbaumer, viola d'amore, viola;
Monika Grimm, Stephan Sieben, viola;
Katharina Litschig, Barbara Kernig, cello;
Michael Neuhaus, double bass;
Thor-Harald Johnsen, theorbo, guitar;
Raphael Alpermann, harpsichord, organ
Scores
The two discs which are the subject of this review, are devoted to one of the most popular composers of the baroque era. Although the pieces included in the respective programmes are not devoid of virtuosity, these recordings rather focus on the expressive features of Vivaldi's oeuvre. It makes sense to bring them together in one review, although the programmes are largely different.
Two pieces appear in both recordings, and one of them, the motet Nisi Dominus, is one of Vivaldi's best-known. However, not that much is known about it, such as the time it was written and for whom it may have been intended. Michael Talbot, in his liner-notes to Tim Mead's recording, suggests it is an early work, dating from the second half of the 1710s. He assumes it was written for the Ospedale della Pietà, although that is impossible to prove (in his liner-notes to the recording by Robert King (Hyperion, 2000) he states that "no one has yet established whether or not it was written for the Pietà.") This Psalm was often set by composers throughout history, as it is a fixed part of Vesper services. The text is divided into eight sections of strongly contrasting character, reflecting the content of the text, and closes with an extended 'Amen'. Notable is the obbligato part for viola d'amore in the opening of the doxology. It is very likely that Vivaldi intended to play it himself.
The Stabat mater is just as often performed as Nisi Dominus, but has a very different character. It was written in 1711 and was first performed at the Feast of the Seven Sorrows in Brescia the next year, on 18 March. Vivaldi set only ten of the twenty verses, which he divided into eight sections. The work closes with an extended setting of the 'Amen'. Only this section requires a fast tempo (allegro); the other movements are in a slow tempo, which lends them a meditative character. Whereas the famous setting by Pergolesi is theatrical and shows his credentials as a composer of opera, Vivaldi's version is devoid of operatic traits.
The probably least-known of the sacred works on these discs is the Salve Regina (RV 618. It is one of the four Marian antiphons; this particular one was sung from Trinity Sunday to the last Sunday before Advent. It is known that Vivaldi has written at least four settings of this text; one of them has been lost. Here we hear the one in G minor. The ensemble of strings and basso continuo is split into two choirs; the first choir is joined by the alto soloist and two oboes. Vivaldi divides the text into six separate arias; the oboes only participate in the fourth. In the opening aria, he makes use of the ritornello of his Concerto in g minor (RV 319) for violin. Given Vivaldi's theatrical instincts, it does not surprise that he explores the contrast between the texts of the second and the third sections respectively: "To you do we cry, the exiled children of Eve" - "To you do we sigh, weeping and mourning in this vale of tears".
Carlo Vistoli added a third sacred work to his recording, and that is the most surprising item, as In furore iustissimae irae is scored for soprano. It is performed here in a transposition for alto. It was written while Vivaldi stayed in Rome during the carnival season 1723-24. As many of his motets, it is intended per ogni tempo, which means that it is not connected to a specific time of the ecclesiastical year. It opens with an aria in the style of an operatic 'rage aria', expressing God's wrath: "In the fury of most just wrath you show your divine power". Such an episode bears witness to the connection between sacred motets and opera. The fact that the text is neither biblical nor liturgical offered Vivaldi much freedom to treat it the way he liked. It has the standard form of the motet: two arias embracing a recitative, and concluded by an Alleluia.
Tim Mead rather opted for two secular cantatas, and again these have to be reckoned among Vivaldi's best-known. It is mostly not known for whom Vivaldi composed his secular cantatas; they may have been intended for a gifted singer at the Ospedale della Pietà. "There is a possibility that both were written for his protégée and confidante Anna Girò, and their most likely place of performance was a private home such as that of the famous singer Faustina Bordoni, where concerts attended by Vivaldi are known to have been held", Michael Talbot writes. Vivaldi set the text of Amor, hai vinto twice, once for soprano, and once for alto. The alto version can be dated 1726, because in the opening recitative Vivaldi included lines from an aria in Leonardo Vinci's opera Siroe, re di Persia, which premiered that year. In the first aria Vivaldi makes use of the form of the fugue; this is the only cantata where he does so. It uses the images of a ship, the sea and a storm to express the pain of an unhappy love - a frequently used topos at the time. The second recitative has been preserved in two versions: one with basso continuo, another with strings; the latter, obviously the more dramatic one, is performed here.
The year of composition of Cessate, omai cessate is not known; Talbot assumes it dates from the mid-1720s. The form is the same: two pairs of recitative and aria. The two recitatives are of the accompagnato type. The first aria is noteworthy for the instruction that in the A section the strings have to play in unison, the violins, the viola and the violone pizzicato, but one of the violins and the cello con arco. This indicates that this cantata has to be performed with more than one violin per part. Whether it justifies the use of eight violins, as is the case here, is debatable.
In both recordings instrumental pieces separate the vocal items. Both include specimens of a genre in Vivaldi's oeuvre, which comprises concertos for strings without solo parts, known as ripieno concertos. Such pieces could be used in the liturgy as well as in secular surroundings. That is different with the Sinfonia 'al Santo Sepolcro' which appears in both recordings, and which was intended for performance during Holy Week. The Concerto in d minor with the title Madrigalesco may also have been written for liturgical use.
Obviously one tends to compare these two recordings, but that only makes partly sense, as just two pieces appear on both recordings. That said, the style of singing of Tim Mead and Carlo Vistoli is clearly different. I have heard both before, and appreciated some of their recordings. Vistoli's performances are a matter of hit and miss, as far as I am concerned. I have heard some really good things, but also performances which I was not happy with. Unfortunately, the present one belongs among the latter category. That is mainly due to his pretty incessant vibrato which is not required here. He has an operatic style of singing, which is more appropriate in secular repertoire than in the sacred works he is performing here. What I like is his dynamic shading on long notes, and his dynamic differentiation between good and bad notes, even in fast coloratura.
The latter is something I am missing in Mead's performances. The long notes are too straight, and the differences between good and bad notes are underexposed. Although he uses a bit more vibrato here and there than he should, it is not really disturbing, unlike in Vistoli's performances. He is more restrained in the sacred pieces, which suits them well. In the two secular cantatas his performances certainly don't lack expression, and I like them.
What both singers have in common is that they are generous in their application of ornamentation, which deserves praise. However, both tend to go a little over the top in the dacapos, where they move too far away from what is written down.
The two orchestras are of about the same size, and although there are some differences, both are excellent.
One issue needs to be mentioned. The acoustic in Carlo Vistoli's recording is pretty dry. That suits a programme with secular music, but not the pieces he sings. The acoustic of the church where Tim Mead recorded his programme would have been more appropriate: a bit more spacious, but not too much. The latter seems a good compromise in a programme of sacred and secular music like that Mead has recorded.
To sum up, both recordings have their pros and cons. On balance, I tend to prefer Mead's recording. I may return to it, which in the case of Vistoli's recording seems unlikely.
Johan van Veen (© 2024)
Relevant links:
Tim Mead
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
Arcangelo