By its title and its twelve violin concertos, Vivaldi’s L’estro armonico immediately captures the imagination. Rinaldo Alessandrini and his Concerto Italiano, with the addition of high-calibre keyboardists, present the full collection with the six additional adaptations for keyboard by Bach.

This Opus 3 published by Vivaldi in 1711 vibrates with the virtues of a poetic energy taken to the highest level of expressivity, embodied in the subtle and virtuosic exchanges between a string orchestra and four, two, then one solo violins. The stylistic principles developed in each piece were completely new and inspired for the time, the virtuosity intense, and the success considerable, rapidly reaching beyond the frontiers of La Serenissima. Which is how Bach, seven years younger than Vivaldi and drawn to the polyphonic dimension of these “multi-voiced” pieces, adapted several of them for organ and harpsichord.

Alessandrini’s modern approach, alternating original concertos and adaptations in a juxtaposition entirely his own, appeals to the delights of the imagination: this new recording by the Concerto Italiano is once again as much in honour of Vivaldi as of Bach, evidenced by the vibrant playing of these four outstanding Italian harpsichordists: Andrea Buccarella, Salvatore Carchiolo, Ignazio Schifani and Rinaldo Alessandrini, and the organist Lorenzo Ghielmi.

Finally, this double album highlights four particularly compelling violinists from the Concerto Italiano, who play solo together or separately. Listeners will observe as much dexterity and fluidity in the strings as on the keyboard instruments, as much care in the definition of the musical lines, and invention in the ornamentations.

We also find that we are familiar with L’estro armonico, as some elements are well known in both their original format (RV580, RV565, RV230) and in Bach’s version for harpsichords (BWV1065) and organ (BWV596, BWV593).

2-CD set with 28-page booklet