Vivaldi

Vivaldi’s “Sonno, se pur sei sonno” from “Tito Manlio”: Lucio’s Lament

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Antonio Vivaldi’s opera, Tito Manlio, composed over the course of five days in December of 1718, centers around a turbulent moral dilemma. Love and loyalty to family come into conflict with duty and rigid adherence to the law. Here is a brief synopsis, provided by Naxos.com: Titus Manlius is engaged in war with the people of Latium. Conflicts of love and duty arise with his daughter Vitellia, in love with the Latin …

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Shunske Sato Plays Vivaldi: “Spring” from “The Four Seasons”

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Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons (Le quattro stagioni) is one of the earliest and most iconic examples of programmatic music. Vivaldi composed the collection of four violin concerti, each depicting a season of the year, during his tenure as music director at the court chapel of Mantua. Together with eight additional concerti, the works were published in Amsterdam in 1725 under the enticing title, Il cimento dell’armonia e dell’inventione (“The Contest Between Harmony and …

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Shunske Sato Plays Vivaldi: “Winter” from “The Four Seasons”

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Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons (Le quattro stagioni) is one of the earliest and most iconic examples of programmatic music. Vivaldi composed the collection of four violin concerti, each depicting a season of the year, during his tenure as music director at the court chapel of Mantua. Along with eight additional concerti, the works were published in Amsterdam in 1725 under the enticing title, Il cimento dell’armonia e dell’inventione (“The Contest Between Harmony and …

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Shunske Sato Plays Vivaldi: “Autumn” from “The Four Seasons”

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Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons (Le quattro stagioni) is one of the earliest and most iconic examples of programmatic music. Vivaldi composed the collection of four violin concerti, each depicting a season of the year, during his tenure as music director at the court chapel of Mantua. Together with eight additional concerti, the works were published in Amsterdam in 1725 under the enticing title, Il cimento dell’armonia e dell’inventione (“The Contest Between Harmony and …

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Shunske Sato Plays Vivaldi: “Summer” from “The Four Seasons”

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Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons (Le quattro stagioni) is one of the earliest and most iconic examples of programmatic music. Vivaldi composed the collection of four violin concerti, each depicting a season of the year, during his tenure as music director at the court chapel of Mantua. Together with eight additional concerti, the works were published in Amsterdam in 1725 under the enticing title, Il cimento dell’armonia e dell’inventione (“The Contest Between Harmony and …

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Vivaldi’s Stabat Mater: Music of Sorrow and Solitude

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Antonio Vivaldi’s Stabat Mater, RV. 621 was first performed during Holy Week in 1712 at Santa Maria della Pace in the Northern Italian city of Brescia. The text, a 13th century poem which has been attributed to numerous authors, is a sorrowful meditation on Mary’s suffering during the crucifixion of Christ. Scored for solo alto (originally castrato) and orchestra, Vivaldi’s Stabat Mater sets only the first ten of the poem’s twenty stanzas. Its …

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The Italian Christmas Concerto: Music of Corelli, Vivaldi, and Locatelli

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In one of Italy’s most enduring Christmas traditions, shepherds from the mountains enter towns to perform carols on the piffero (a reed instrument similar to the oboe) and the zampogna (a kind of bagpipe). The impromptu concerts recall legends in which shepherds in Bethlehem celebrated the birth of Jesus through the music of their pipes. These rustic sounds enter the Baroque Christmas concerto, a form of concerto grosso popularized by numerous composers …

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