Gunar Letzbor: “It is almost impossible nowadays to perform Vivaldi’s music without any preconceptions, even if one engages with it only rarely. Vivaldi’s sound is ubiquitous. Or is that perhaps the sound of only a few works from his rich oeuvre? When I played through “La Cetra” for the first time on the violin, I found some typical Vivaldi-isms which I really cannot stand. At the same time, however, I was surprised to find a remarkable body of new features waiting to be discovered. One just must not succumb to the temptation of immediately putting the familiar Vivaldi stamp onto everything. I have, in the meantime, formed an even greater friendship with Vivaldi. There is so much to discover amongst his works, away from mainstream sounds. This recording and its preparation: practising in peace and quiet; trying out sounds; receiving and discarding ideas; taking in the texts; rediscovering melodies and, if possible, never listening to any Vivaldi recordings.”
Tracklist:
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
from Il Cimento dell’Armonia e dell’Inventione (1723-1725)
Violin Concerto in E major, RV 269 ‘La primavera’ (“Spring”)
[1] Allegro 3:40
[2] Largo 2:30
[3] Danza Pastorale 3:57
Violin Concerto in G minor, RV 315 ‘L’estate’ (“Summer”)
[4] Allegro non molto 5:57
[5] Adagio 2:21
[6] Presto 2:44
Violin Concerto in F major, RV 293 ‘L’autunno’ (“Autumn”)
[7] Allegro 5:28
[8] Adagio molto 3:01
[9] Allegro 3:44
Violin Concerto in F minor, RV 297 ‘L’inverno’ (“Winter”)
[10] Allegro non molto 3:58
[11] Largo 2:08
[12] Allegro 4:40
František Jiránek (1698-1778)
Violin Concerto in D minor
[13] Allegro non molto 6:19
[14] Grave 3:05
[15] Allegro 5:56
Ars Antiqua Austria:
Gunar Letzbor solo violin – direction
Friedrich Kircher violin 1
Barbara Konrad violin 2
Markus Miesenberger viola
Claire Pottinger-Schmidt violoncello
Jan Krigovsky violone 16’
Erich Traxler organ – harpsichord
Hubert Hoffmann theorbo