The cover presentation shortchanges the efforts of the ensemble here; this is not just another disc (or, in this case, double disc) of Vivaldi violin concertos, but rather one of very few discs on the market to treat a chronological aspect of Vivaldi's career. In question here are early works by the Red Priest. These concertos date from around 1700 to 1710 and were thus composed prior to the appearance of the L'estro armonico, Op. 3, and La stravaganza, Op. 4, sets that made Vivaldi's name. Most of them appear on other recordings, but many were only recently authenticated. And not very many musicians have tried to draw a portrait of Vivaldi as a young man. Violinist
Florian Deuter and German historical-instrument ensemble
Harmonie Universelle make a coherent case for an early Vivaldi style and for the authenticity of a couple of still-debatable examples. The opening Violin Concerto in D minor, RV Anh. 10, is one of those examples. It is not in the usual three-movement concerto pattern, but has five short movements. In
Deuter's hands these little structures come off as short, dramatic outbursts and solid blocks of sound that are entirely characteristic of Vivaldi. The composer of the Four Seasons seems only a short distance away in many of the group's slow movements. Other concertos on the two discs do display the fast-slow-fast pattern and have a high level of virtuosity that, annotator Olivier Fourès argues, Vivaldi actually toned down in his later published sets with the aim of selling his publications to a wider audience.
Deuter is confident and oriented toward smoothness here, and in general the group does not have the explosive style of its Italian contemporaries; it is all about precision and a well-oiled quality. That does not stop the group from bringing this early Vivaldi music alive, however, finding in it a certain grandiosity that is a counterpart to the craggy style of some of Bach's early works. Anyone from serious Vivaldi collectors to listeners who like the famous Vivaldi concertos and want to hear more will enjoy this set. Notes are in German, French, and English.