The original? Or perhaps the most endlessly reimagined and rearranged composer in music history? Whatever the form in which his music is presented, Antonio Vivaldi remains the undisputed king of the collective musical imagination. His Four Seasons need no introduction. One of them – Winter – will also feature in Viva Vivaldi, in a surprising arrangement for recorder.
The programme also centres on works from another celebrated collection, L’Estro armonico, which transformed the way instrumental music was understood at the beginning of the eighteenth century. Published in Amsterdam in 1711, it quickly became an international sensation. Vivaldi’s music spread across Europe at remarkable speed, and his style had a profound influence on an entire generation of composers, including Johann Sebastian Bach.
The programme presents Vivaldi as a composer of extraordinary imagination, capable of turning instrumental music into stories full of emotion. The works featured in the programme are united by the energy and striking contrasts so characteristic of the Venetian master.
The evening's unexpected protagonist is the flute – an instrument to which Vivaldi gave an astonishing variety of expressive voices. In the celebrated and wonderfully witty Il Gardellino (The Goldfinch), the music almost literally imitates birdsong, full of lightness, ornamentation and dazzling virtuosity. La Notte (The Night), by contrast, leads the listener into a world of mystery and fleeting unease.
The programme concludes with a distinctive arrangement of Winter from The Four Seasons for recorder. One of the greatest evergreens in the history of music acquires a new sound – at once fragile and subtle. And perhaps this arrangement allows us to hear even more clearly Vivaldi's’extraordinary ability to paint nature and atmosphere in sound.
The Wrocław Baroque Orchestra is one of Poland’s leading period-instrument ensembles. It is one of those ensembles that bring masterpieces written three hundred years ago vividly to life through the freshness and vitality of their interpretations. Their concerts are intense, deeply engaging musical experiences, performed with passion and imagination. Jarosław Thiel, an outstanding cellist who has shaped the character of the Wrocław Baroque Orchestra since its foundation, is one of the leading figures of Poland’s early music scene. His interpretations combine historical awareness with naturalness and dramatic flair, achieving a result that is at once remarkably precise and contemporary in its emotional impact.
The soloist, Erik Bosgraaf, the Dutch recorder player and musicologist, is regarded as one of the world’s finest and most versatile performers of early music.
Maria Peryt