Vivaldi, Antonio: Violin Concerto in F Major, RV 570, ‘La Tempesta di Mare’

The music of Antonio Vivaldi has become so commonplace – accompanying quiet times everywhere from the lift to the loo to the Weather Channel – that one might look over one’s shoulder for creeping Pavlovian responses. But surely ‘Il Tempesta di Mare’ can remind us (despite being yet again weather-related) just how brilliant, colorful, and dramatic these works are. Just to speak of color is to be encouraged to remember how specific the tone-painting is in the Four Seasons; to speak of a storm at sea is to invite performers to do their utmost in bringing out the descriptive and theatrical opportunities.

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