Vivaldi: 5 Violin Concertos - Viktoria Mullova, Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini

 

 Antonio Vivaldi: 5 Violin Concertos
 Victorta Mullova - Il Giardino Armonico - Giovanni Antonini

Concerto in D Major 'Grosso Mogul' RV 208

Concerto in B minor for violins and cello RV 580 ( op.3 no.10)

Concerto in C Major RV 187

Concerto in D Major 'L'Inquietudine' RV 234

Concerto in E minor  'Il Favoritol' RV 277

Editor'c Choice / July 2005
Duncan Druce / Gramophon Music Magazine

Viktoria Mullova isn't quite a Baroque violinist her Strad is fitted with gut strings, she's using a Baroque bow and she plays very stylishly but there's something about her sound that betrays the modern virtuoso. Her vibrato is modest but it s used in a way that harks back to her conventional Russian training. Much more important than rating her on a scale of authenticity, however, is to note that it s top-class violin playing: the rhythms are lively and poised, all the passagework is beautifully clear and exact, and the middle movements of RV208, 187 and 277 are all made to sound truly eloquent. The programme is excellent, too, in the way it shows the wide range of Vivaldi s imagination. RV187, previously unknown to me, is a lovely piece, full of delightful original touches, in contrast to my least favourite of the five concertos, the better known Grosso Mogul which, despite its brilliance and its satisfying formal design, is oppressively short of significant ideas.

Il Giardino Armonico provide an immensely spirited accompaniment, four members taking the extra solo roles in Op 3 No 10 with great style. Vivaldi s music needs strong contrasts in performance; it should create a sense of amazement, which these accounts supply in a striking and convincing way. But I'm slightly troubled by the prevalence of ferocious accents, ultra-short off-the-string bowing, and exaggerated dynamic shading. For my taste, the strongest, swiftest bow stroke should retain the character of a gesture, rather than a hammer blow. But whether or not you agree with this, you re likely to enjoy the vigour, colourful variety and sheer expertise of these performances.

Also:

Performance *****
Sound *****
BBC Music Magazine, CD Review

Mullova is no stranger to gut strings and period performance - she did it memorably in her Beethoven and Mendelssohn concertos with Gardiner, and now she's teamed up with one of the most sparkling of the Baroque bands around. They have the first word with their vigorous attack in the D major concerto (RV 208) and when Mullova enters, she pushes the tempo even more urgently. In the slow movement, she weaves arabesques around the highly decorated lute and harpsichord continuo with a rubato that's free and natural, before the finale sees a return to the energy of the opening. Three of the violinists from the ensemble join her in the B minor concerto, making a splendid team, unanimous in rhythm and ornamentation, and in lightness of attack in the central section of the slow movement.

For the other three concertos, Mullova's on her own. The C major is the least exciting with some formulaic sequences in its outer movements. But the D major (RV 234) has a delightful unpredictability about some of the harmonic progressions, and throughout the disc there's neve any lack of interest in the texture of the music, with variety of articulation and dynamic from the strings and weight in the continuo. The recording is bright and consistently detailed.

And:

David Hurwitz / Classics Today

Il Giardino Armonico is either the most exciting period-instrument band around, or they play like a bunch of pigs. The line between the two is rather thin, actually, given these players' usual take-no-prisoners approach. But here, with the aristocratic Viktoria Mullova playing the living daylights out of the solo parts in nice, modern, virtuoso fashion, the collaboration has the effect of tempering the group's habitual crudeness with no loss of excitement. In short, this is a stunning program, imaginatively conceived for continuous listening, and containing five absolutely wonderful works, none of which has been done to death in the way that The Four Seasons has.

Given Mullova's generally serious demeanor, it's only to be expected that she would select some of Vivaldi's more substantial concertos, including the "Grosso Mogul" RV 208, the C major RV 187, and "Il Favorito" RV 277 (written in a nice, dark E minor). Her timbral smoothness makes the greatest possible contrast to the rough vigor of the opening ritornellos, so much so that her initial entrance in RV 208 at the beginning of the disc comes as something of a shock. Still, contrast is what Baroque concerto form is all about, and the beauty and suppleness of her playing makes her interactions with the orchestral ensemble truly memorable. The central recitative of this same concerto and the plangent slow movement of the C major concerto are particularly memorable, but then it's all pretty extraordinary.

Most fascinating of all, perhaps, is the B minor concerto from "L'Estro Armonico", which Bach later turned into his Concerto for 4 Harpsichords. Here, as equals, all four soloists collaborate to raise the music's energy level to amazing heights without ever compromising their intonation or resorting to that "scratch and scrape" period-instrument sound. It's a wonderful performance that reveals the true potential of the authenticity movement to raise overall standards of musicianship in a way that really serves the work, without resorting to pedantry or inartistic theorizing. Exceptional sonics balance the continuo perfectly within the ensemble and Mullova just as ideally against everyone else. It's great to see her making recordings again--telling evidence of how ridiculous it is for the major labels to be dumping their best, most mature artists in favor of the latest "flavor of the month" Wunderkind. I wish Mullova, and her new label Onyx, continued success. [10/12/2005]

Posted by Ice