Crescendo: Nature in Vivaldi’s Sounds

Crescendo presents Nature in Vivaldi’s Sounds on Sunday, October 6 at 4:00pm

Antonio Vivaldi conveyed the beauty and dramatic conflicts of nature in his instrumental music with an intensity unparalleled by his contemporaries. In the violin concerto “Tempesta di mare” (The Storm at Sea), and the flute concertos “La notte” (The Night), and “Il gardellino” (The Goldfinch), Vivaldi demonstrates how adept he is in using the solo instruments, and how he uses their sounds to evoke unique affects and atmospheres depicting nature.

While Vivaldi doesn’t have a direct connection with Latin America, the Baroque music of Western Europe was widely performed there, introduced by the Jesuits. Vivaldi’s concerto for two mandolins will be performed on charangos, with the addition of quenas – both Latin American native instruments, giving our listeners a taste of the fusion of traditional and folk instruments that might have been heard in the New World.

Program
Flute Concertos No. 2 “La notte” in G minor, RV 439, and No. 3 “Il gardellino” in D major, RV 428

Violin Concertos Op. 8 No. 5 ”La Tempesta di Mare” RV 253, and D Major, RV 229

Concerto for Two Mandolins*, Strings and Continuo in G major, RV 532 (*performed on Andean instruments)

Performers
Edson Scheid, Baroque violin, Rodrigo Tarraza, traverso, Carlos Boltes, and Scott Hill, charango, with strings and basso continuo players of Crescendo Period Instrument orchestra, and Gonzalo Cortés and Rodrigo Tarraza, quenas, directed by Christine Gevert from the harpsichord.