Vivaldi, A :: Concerto in D major, RV 428 'Il Gardellino'

Concerto in D major, RV 428 'Il Gardellino'

Vivaldi, A

International Music Company presents Antonio Vivaldi's Concerto in D major, RV 428 'Il Gardellino' for flute and piano edited by Jean-Pierre Rampal.

The Concerto in D major, RV428, has the title 'Il gardellino' (The Goldfinch) and is able here to suggest the sound of bird-song, with the help of two solo violins, as in The Four Seasons. The slow movement, here in its scoring for sopranino recorder and continuo, evokes a pastoral scene in its use of the shepherd dance, the siciliano, with its gently undulating rhythm. This is capped by the expected energy of the third movement in which the flute has the help of a solo violin.'

- Keither Anderson

'The creator of hundreds of spirited, extroverted instrumental works, Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi is widely recognized as the master of the Baroque instrumental concerto, which he perfected and popularized more than any of his contemporaries. Vivaldi's kinetic rhythms, fluid melodies, bright instrumental effects, and extensions of instrumental technique make his some of the most enjoyable of Baroque music. He was highly influential among his contemporaries and successors: even as esteemed a figure as Johann Sebastian Bach adapted some of Vivaldi's music. Vivaldi's variable textures and dramatic effects initiated the shift toward what became the Classical style; a deeper understanding of his music begins with the realization that, compared with Bach and even Handel, he was Baroque music's arch progressive. Though not as familiar as his concerti, Vivaldi's stage and choral music is still of value; his sometimes bouncy, sometimes lyrical Gloria in D major (1708) has remained a perennial favorite. His operas were widely performed in his own time.'

- Rovi Staff