It’s another bright, sunny day here in West Michigan.
I realize those who live in different states or even countries will counter with, “So what? It’s April 10th. Shouldn’t it be a bright, sunny day?”
You’d think so, wouldn’t you?
I’ve heard meteorologists say that West Michigan’s weather is cloudier than that of Seattle. That’s because we live next to one of the Great Lakes, Lake Michigan to be exact. So, our weather is seriously affected by the immense body of water.
In the winter, that can mean it’s colder and snowier than it would be if we lived in, say, Lansing or Flint.
In the summer, that could mean more clouds.
Whatever it means, it rarely results in we’re treated to bright, sunny skies and lovely weather.
So, we have to take these lovely days when they come and enjoy the crap out of them.
Which is what I’m doing.
Except at Panera, the east side of the building is all windows, which is terrific for looking out and seeing life passing by. But, when the sun rises, it hits with full force and makes my, in this case, right side bake while my left side remains room temperature. Plus, I get a glare on my laptop screen that’s tough to work around.
Still, a wise man once wrote, “we have to take these lovely days when they come and enjoy the crap out of them.”
Today’s Vivaldi selection – CD 18, to be precise – is titled Concertos Op. 11. And it sounds quite lovely. Very Baroque.
Vivaldi composed these pieces of music in Amsterdam in 1729. He was 51.
When I was 51 I was probably laboring over what to eat for breakfast.
Just the Facts
Vivaldi CD 18 features 18 tracks for a total running time of 64:25.
This was recorded March 31-April 4, 2014, in Padua, Italy.
L’Arte dell’Arco returns, with Federico Guiglielmo at the helm.
For this CD, the players are:
Federico Guglielmo, violin I and concertmaster
Franceso Bonomo, violin I
Carlo Lazari, violin II
Mario Paladin, viola
Paolo Zuccheri, violone/double bass
Roberto Loreggian, harpsichord/chamber organ
Ivano Zanenghi, theorbo
Just the Feelings
Recording quality: 5
Overall musicianship/vocals: 5
CD liner notes: 2 (booklet in box set)/5 (pdf download from web site)
How does this make me feel: 3
Another terrific recording from Brilliant Classics!
Yet, I wasn’t blown away by much in this CD. Oh, I stopped short and dropped what I was doing when I heard Track 3 – Concerto No. 5 in C minor, RV 202, movement III (“Allegro non molto”). The violin work in that piece was remarkable.
Ditto for Track 16. This time, it was the oboe playing that caught my attention. Very nice.
I enjoyed CD 18. But not as well as I did CD 17. Something wasn’t there this time. More melody? More dynamics? More lively passages? Different instruments?
By way of contrast, after I’d listened to Vivaldi CD 18 a couple of times through, I put it aside and am now listening to the song “Pride” off the album The World is a Game, by Canadian progressive rock band Mystery.
Mystery pushes all of my buttons. The vocals soar. The compositions are dynamic and extremely melodic, often epic. For my money, they’re the best progressive rock band in existence, circa 2024.
When I listen to music, I want to be moved, awed, enthralled. So if a Classical piece does that for me (much of Anton Bruckner did, ditto for Beethoven and Mozart), I’m all in. I’m diggin’ it.
But music for the sake of music, or music that doesn’t have a lot of melody or dynamics – sort of like what I heard in Thomas Tallis or Arcangelo Corelli – I feel my attention wandering.
That’s probably a fault on my part. It’s certainly not due to the extremely fine musicians on the Brilliant Classics label. And it’s not Vivaldi’s fault, for sure.