Vivaldi: Virtuoso Cantatas

Virgin Classics CD, 68 Minutes

Antonio Vivaldi:
Alla caccia dell’alme e de’ cori, RV 670; Qual per ignoto calle, RV 677;
Aria: Piangerò sinché l’onda from Orlando furioso; Prelude for theorbo after Vivaldi;
Care selve, amici prati, RV 671; Sonata for cello and continuo, RV 47;
Perfidissimo cor! Iniquo fato! RV 674; Aria: Di verde ulivo from Tito Manlio;
Pianti, sospiri e dimandar mercede, RV 676

Forty of Vivaldi’s chamber cantatas survive - short, dramatic works for solo voice and continuo on the conventional theme of unhappy love, written to order for an aristocratic audience. In the five examples heard here Vivaldi rises above the strict limitations of the genre to produce virtuoso works remarkable for their melodic richness, rhythmic exuberance and dramatic power. The young French countertenor Philippe Jaroussky includes two of Vivaldi’s equally individual opera arias - the first from Orlando furioso; the second, with cello accompaniment, from Tito Manlio; while the members of Ensemble Artaserse provide instrumental interludes in the form of a short prelude for theorbo and the splendid cello sonata, RV 47.