Vivaldi, "La Stravaganza" - Concerto No 4

A small taste of the most stimulating baroque string music

Although he temporarily abandoned his functions when he felt like it (or was asked to), Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741) remained as Concert Director of the Ospedale della Pietá for almost forty years. In that position, he produced much of his work, especially that devoted to concertos for solo instruments and orchestra, because at the Ospedale he had hundreds of girls in abandonment dedicated to the study of music. Among them he could choose the most brilliant ones to go on concert tours throughout Europe when the opportunity arose.

The most notable works in the genre are contained in the famous collections L'estro armonico and Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione (whose first four concertos are popularly known as The Four Seasons). The collection "La Stravaganza" ranks on a slightly lesser level.

La Stravaganza
It is a collection of twelve concertos for violin, strings, and basso continuo, although some of them incorporate a second violin or a cello. They were written between the years 1712-13, that is, they are almost ten years before The Four Seasons, of 1723. But they anticipate a "familiar air"... Hence some scholars argue that the 400 concertos for orchestra and solo instrument that the maestro wrote are very similar. It is a gigantic production, of course. And that the master wrote fast, no doubt, but from there to claiming that Vivaldi wrote the same concerto four hundred times, there is a long way to go. The set of twelve concertos La Stravaganza is today, a gift of an hour and a half of the most stimulating baroque string music.

The Stravaganza Op. 4 Concerto No. 4, in A minor
The twelve concertos were published in 1716 in Amsterdam, and are dedicated to Victor Delfin, a Venetian nobleman who had been Vivaldi's pupil. The dedication exudes great respect and consideration, as it should, but the master does not skimp on his own titles:

"Concerti consacrati a Sua Eccellenza il Signor Vettor Delfino, nobile veneto, da Don Antonio Vivaldi, Musico di Violino, e Maestro de Concerti del Pio Ospitale della Pietá di Venetia."

We are presenting here Concerto No. 4, in a rendition by the Orquestra Barroca conducted by maestro Luís Otávio Santos, on the violin.

Movements:
0:00  Allegro
3:17  Grave e sempre piano
6:05  Allegro