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LES SOLISTES DE BRUXELLES 1 SOLISTI DI MILANO

Four Concertos for Two Orchestras

Most interesting music, ably and stylishly performed . .. Not content with playing off one orchestra against

another, Vivaldi plays off both against various groups of soloists dominated among themselves always by a solo

violin... Full advantage has been taken of the [stereo] possibilities offered.

Malcolm Macdonald in The Gramophone

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This recording brings together two of the most celebrated string ensembles of today, each having won fame through its concerts and world renown through its records. That these two exceptional bodies of Vivaldi specialists should meet under the baton of Angelo Ephrikian guarantees performances of intelligence, refinement, poetry, enthusiasm and discipline. The performances are based directly upon the original auto- graph MSS. The realization of the basso continuo is the work of Maestro Ephrikian, atd is entrusted to the organ for one orchestra, and to the harpsichord for the other.

Les Solistes de Bruxelles performing with

I Solisti di Milano

Vivaldi: Four Concertos for Two Orchestras Lola Bobesco & Franco Fantini (solo violins)

Kamiel d’Hooghe (organ) Mariella Sorelli (harpsichord) Conducted by ANGELO EPHRIKIAN

Side One (8:95)

CONCERTO IN C MAJOR “in due Cori,” F.1: 13 (P.14)

(for the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary) Adagio e staccato - Allegro - Largo - Allegro (band 1, 13:03)

CONCERTO IN B FLAT MAJOR

“in due Cori con violino scordato,” F.1: 60 (P.368) Largo e spiccato - Allegro non molto + Andante - Allegro (solo violin: Lola Bobesco) (band 2, 15:27)

Side Two (25:55)

CONCERTO IN A MAJOR “in due Cori con flauti obligati,” F.XII: 48 (P.226) Allegro - Largo - Allegro {band1,11;55)

CONCERTO IN D MAJOR “in due Cori,” F.1: 62 (P.164)

(for the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary) Allegro » Grave - Allegro (solo violin: Franco Fantini)

(band 2, 13:55)

Born in Venice on March 4th, 1678, Antonio Lucio Vivaldi was the son of

a celebrated violinist of the musical Chapel of San Marco. In his child-

hood and adolescence he must have spent many hours in this wonderful

basilica where Byzantine art meets Gothic and where the influence of

Gabrieli and Monteverdi reigns supreme.

Ordained priest in 1703, Vivaldi devoted numerous instrumental and

choral works to the expression of his religious convictions. Those for a

double body of performers provide perhaps the best evidence of their

composer's genius (Dixit, Beatus Vir, Kyrie, Salve Regina, concertos . . .).

These works, following a tradition that went back to Gabrieli, were prob-

ably intended for the Basilica of San Marco whose two lateral rood-lofts,

each equipped with its own organ, contained the two choral and instru-

mental groups who answered each other across the apse.

Of the 454 concertos listed by Marc Pincherle, five were composed

“in due cori,” that is, for double orchestra, but only four are complete.

These four, to be found in fully written-out manuscripts, have been

recorded together for the first time on this disc. Three are for solo violin

and double orchestra and these originate from the National Library at

Turin. The MS of the fourth, a concerto with flutes, violins and obbligato

organ, had been housed in the State Library at Dresden but was de-

stroyed during the war; fortunately it had been microfilmed and pub-

lished in facsimile by the Accademia Chigiana of Siena. The Concerto in C major for the Feast of the Assumption is one of the

most perfect examples of a Vivaldian ‘‘Church’’ Concerto. Everything

indicates its type clearly: first the title, then the four-movement form,

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then the orchestration ‘in due cori” which shows that it was intended for St. Mark's, finally the inspiration and style which recall many of the sa- cred vocal works by the ‘’Red Priest.” The autograph score is at Turin, but a copy exists in separate parts at Dresden with the accompaniment reduced to a single orchestra. This latter version was lucky enough to reach print at Amsterdam ‘at the expense of Witwogel, organist'’ in a collection which included other composers too.

Adagio e staccato. The first movement is a spacious overture, broadly rhythmical, on the intervals of the chord of C major. The solemnity of such a movement is only equalled by the majesty of the liturgical picture it evokes.

Allegro ma poco, poco. After this grandiose preamble the principal theme bursts in to open the second movement. This theme, lightly syn- copatedì, irresistibly suggests grandeur; the tempo is still moderate and very precisely indicated: Vivaldi writes ‘Allegro ma poco, poco.” A triple contrast ceaselessly moulds this single theme — a melodic contrast between its exposition in major and minor, a dynamic contrast between forte and piano provided by the two orchestras playing together or alone, and finally a ‘‘stereophonic’’ contrast between the two orchestras. As against this thematic constancy of the tutti, the solos take care of the development of the composition. They are very independent in com- parison with the principal theme and bear witness to an incessant mel- odic preoccupation.

Largo. The religious character of the concerto is here recalled by an introduction which is dramatic in style — with a solemn rhythm, con- trasts between forte and pianissimo, and echo effects between the two orchestras. With an opening of this kind the Largo might seem to belong more to the world of opera than of sacred music, but the serene grandeur of the chords thus struck and the contrasts they produce with a solo of absolute purity and simplicity soon reveal the falsity of this first im- pression. I

Allegro. The lively, determined theme of the finale bursts forth with irresistible impetus, alternating constantly between the two orchestras. The solos again testify to an inexhaustible inspiration; they introduce feats of virtuosity of ever-increasing difficulty—perilous soarings, double- stoppings, arpeggios and rapid scales. The work ends on a cadenza which Vivaldi took the trouble to write out in full, where he pours out a genuinely personal lyricism which reflects, like the beautiful settings of ‘’Salve Regina,” the profound sensitivity of the Abbé Vivaldi’s Marian

devotion. Considering Vivaldi’s concertos as a whole, the Concerto in B flat

major for violin (‘‘mistuned’’), two orchestras, harpsichord and organ represents perhaps the most finished and mature of all those for solo violin. Its sacred intention is only recalled by the division of the strings into two bodies and by the short, majestic introduction. To allow the growth of effects of virtuosity without exceeding the technical possibili- ties open to the performer, Vivaldi has recourse to the ‘’‘scordatura,’’ the artifice which consists in modifying the normal tuning of the violin; by this means three- and four-note chords virtually impossible with the regular tuning can be obtained on the open strings. Here the tuning is

E, A, D, B flat. The Concerto begins with a short, noble introduction, largo e spiccato.

A presto transition leads in the principal theme of the first movement, Allegro non molto. Two other themes are developed, the one tender and gentle, the other an incisive one which takes up again in more lively

fashion that of the introduction. The two orchestras converse familiarly,

or answer each other in echo. The solos are much more elaborate than in the concertos usually heard nowadays.

The slow movement, Andante, is constructed on the pattern of a cha- conne. Above a harmonic foundation repeated incessantly by the second

orchestra, the soloist elaborates variations which are admirable in their

delicacy, their melody and their independence. The finale is a bustling Allegro in 6/8 rhythm. The two orchestras

answer each other in close dialogue or in echo; the solos call for great virtuosity (scales, triplets, and passages in double-stopping). The final solo opens out on to a famous autograph cadenza where Vivaldi has indicated with precision the tempi, nuances and bowing.

The Concerto in A major for principal violin and organ (concertante), 4 flutes and 4 violins (obbligati), 2 orchestras and harpsichord is for us

the most beautiful example of a sacred concerto for two orchestras, and

also incontestably one of Vivaldi’s loveliest orchestral works. Each orchestra has its soloists — the first, 2 violins (one of them princi-

pal), 2 flutes and basso continuo; the second, 2 violins, 2 flutes, and

solo organ. Yet, over and above the concertino of 4 violins two chief

protagonists emerge: the principal violin (first group) and the organ

(second group). The flutes bring a note of color with short, alternating

interventions whose effect is increased by the use in the first orchestra

of ‘“’transverse’”’ flutes, in the second of recorders. Exceptionally, no

tempo markings are indicated by Vivaldi and the whole, though sub-

divided into three parts (fast-slow-fast) seems to require playing through

in a single span. The first movement strikes by its fantasy and by the absence of a prin-

cipal theme: it is a succession of affecting or decorative moments from

which two big solos stand out — for the organ, and for the principal

violin. The final bars are particularly gripping for Vivaldi here brings into

play, consecutively, four different methods of arousing intense emotion:

a descending progression for the bass instruments in unison, chords of

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the diminished seventh exchanged forcefully between the two orches-

tras, solos by the first violins in echo, and a strange resolution of the

final harmonies in F sharp minor. The second movement contains quite as much cause for surprise and

admiration. Above an obbligato bass for the first orchestra, where

Vivaldi looks for a realization ‘‘Arpeggio con teorba,’”” the violin pro-

ceeds to pick out one of the most beautiful of all Vivaldian melodies. From time to time, on a particular inflection, the soloist finds a ringing

echo in the ensemble of the second orchestra; at times, too, a powerful

tutti of the two orchestras interrupts this cantilena. The finale opens with a determined solo from the principal violin un-

accompanied, to which the arpeggios of the solo organ make immediate

reply. After this exposition by the protagonists Vivaldi develops a veri-

table symphony, with all possible tonal combinations (trills from the

flutes and the organ, arpeggios from the violins, rapid patterns ex-

changed in echo by the four solo violins). In this final movement the lyricism is dazzling.

The Concerto in D major for solo violin, two string orchestras, harpsi-

chord and organ, also written to celebrate the Assumption of the Virgin

Mary, differs from the one in C major, as much by its inspiration as in

its structure. The autograph MS is at Turin, but another copy exists in

separate parts at Dresden — once again a sign of the work's success.

Before beginning an analysis it is worth remarking the close kinship

of its quick movements with those of the 11th concerto of Opus VIII

(Il Cimentio dell’ Armonia e dell’ Invenzione), printed at Amsterdam in 1725. AII the solos are to be found again; and the harmonic procedures in tuttis of the first movements are similar. Yet the two works are quite different and the themes have nothing in common.

Allegro. The principal theme opens the movement grandly. The in-

struments of the second orchestra, all in unison, emphatically state a

‘’Bachian’ theme composed on the three intervals of the chord of D, followed by a scale of the dominant. One of the most astonishing mo-

ments in the Allegro is a long series of arpeggios beneath which the

violins of the two orchestras softly exchange the same motif. After a number of variations the initial theme returns, as at the beginning but this time alternated between the two orchestras, while the solo violin weaves a garland of rapid figurations in his top register. With regard to this procedure, which returns absolutely identically in the 11th concerto of Opus VIII, Marc Pincherle wrote: “This entry of the theme fore- shadows, more than a century in advance, an analogous section in Men- delssohn’s Violin Concerto, after the cadenza.”

Grave. The slow movement, which has no connection with Opus VIII, is extremely simply and barely composed. There is no orchestral intro- duction or conclusion: a single cantilena, interrupted at the fifth bar by a pedal-point, unfolds serenely like a gentle prayer.

Allegro. The finale, in 3/4, exploits an even simpler theme than that of the first movement: tonic-dominant-tonic-dominant — D, A, D, A — but in a design exploiting the leap of an octave which gives a thematic im- pulsioh to these otherwise commonplace notes. To this rhythmic ener- gizing force succeeds a rich harmonic sequence with the two orches- tras answering each other or combining by turns in the development of the same motif.

The final tutti is interrupted on a pedal-point where Vivaldi clearly de- mands an improvised cadenza, by writing ‘’qui si ferma a piacimento, poi segue” (‘Here one stops, ad libitum, then it goes on”). An irresistible impulse surges through this movement, which is perhaps one of Vivaldi's most impassioned.

Positive organ built by Messrs. P. Anneesens, Menin. Harpsichord by Wittmayer.

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