IL GIARDINO ARMONICO

Giovanni ANTONINI, conductor and flutes

Patricia KOPATCHINSKAJA, violin

Vivaldi Furioso

Concert per a cordes RV 157
A. Vivaldi (1678 – 1741)      

I. Allegro
II. Largo
III. Allegro

Spiccato il volo per a violí sol
Luca Francesconi (*1956, Milà)

Concert en do major RV 191 per a violí, cordes i baix continu
A. Vivaldi

I. Allegro ma poco
II. Largo
III. Allegro ma poco

Incanto XXIII (2020) per a violí i flauta dolça
Simone Movio (*1978, Latisana)

Capriccio núm. 2
Salvatore Sciarrino (1947, Palerm)

Concert en mi bemoll major RV 253 «La tempesta di mare» per a violí, cordes i baix continu
A. Vivaldi

I. Presto
II. Largo
III. Presto

Pausa

Dilanio avvinto, per a violí i flauta
Marco Stroppa (*1959, Verona)

Concert en mi menor op. III n. 4 RV 550 per a quatre violins, cordes i baix continu
A. Vivaldi

I. Andante
II. Allegro assai
III. Adagio
IV. Allegro

Violins: Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Marco Bianchi, Stefano Barneschi, Liana Mosca

Estroso per a violí, flauta dolça i orquestra barroca
Aureliano Cattaneo (*1974, Codogno)

Moghul, per a violí, cordes i baix continu                           
Giovanni Sollima (*1962, Palermo)

Concert en re major RV 208 «Il Grosso Mogul» per a violí, cordes i baix continu
A. Vivaldi

I. Allegro, en re major
II. Recitatiu: Grave, en si menor
III. Allegro, en re major 

Stefano Barneschi*, Fabrizio Haim Cipriani, Chiara Zanisi, Liana Mosca,  violins I

Marco Bianchi*, Boris Begelman, Angelo Calvo, Francesco Colletti,  violins II

Renato Burchese*, Maria Cristina Vasi,  violes

Marcello Scandelli*, Elena Russo,   violoncels

Giancarlo De Frenza,   contrabaixos

Miguel Rincon,   tiorba

Cristiano Gaudio,   clave

*principals

PROGRAM NOTES

Bàrbara Duran Bordoy

Musicologist and writer

VIVALDI WOULD BE INTERESTED IN TODAY’S CONCERT

The reasons why 63-year-old Vivaldi (1678-1741) left Venice for Vienna are difficult to understand. Admittedly, a short time earlier, he had met Emperor Charles VI, an enthusiast of his music, who had invited him to go to the Austrian capital. However, there seem to be two key factors behind this departure: on the one hand, Vivaldi’s style was no longer appreciated by the music lovers; on the other hand, he clearly wanted to succeed in the operatic world. Vivaldi had not always performed well in this field in Venice, and perhaps he still had a thorn in his side, which was to succeed as an operatic composer and at the same time become one of the leading musicians in the Viennese court. He was unlucky, for shortly after his arrival in Vienna, Charles VI died, and within months he became ill and died there too on the night of 27-28 July 1741, in conditions that were indeed close to poverty.

Why was Vivaldi’s style no longer so appreciated? This may be due to fresh impetus appearing in the instrumental language, especially in the violin, towards the first third of the 18th century, following the mastery of Corelli and Vivaldi himself. The musical world began to worship new idols: Tartini, Locatelli, Sammartini, Pergolesi and others took over. They offered innovations and new ideas that seemed like isolated hints but gradually consolidated and became “fashionable.” Other creators, such as the Frenchman Jean-Marie Leclerc, took it all on board in the French context.

Today’s programme exhibits the continuation of this trend, a process of evolution from the genius of Vivaldi to contemporary techniques. A recontextualisation, variation and extension of all that the Venetian master contributed to the instrumental language. We can follow this process from the models of the solo concerto and the concerto grosso (tutti and concertante) —a hybrid format between the two previous ones that Vivaldi dominated (soloists in the concertante group), to the constructive and formal freedom of contemporary pieces.

The scheduled concertos exemplify Vivaldi’s mastery in this field. The Concerto for Strings RV 157 is remarkable for its lightness and fluidity despite a distinct tempo; the second movement is treated almost as a recitative which contrasts with the delightfully intense vitality of the third movement. Here, evidently, the string ensemble’s sonority is explored to the full.

In contrast, the Concerto in C major RV 191 for violin, strings and basso continuo begins with a tutti that gives way to the soloist, a concerto that clearly marks these two roles; a performer is needed to remedy the devilish airiness of the first half. The second half is a kind of monologue that draws a delicate filigree over a basso continuo, followed by a playful allegro.

The Concerto in E major RV 253 “La storia di mare” is one of the five concertos Vivaldi dedicated to a storm at sea, a truly genuine example of his programmatic music. The tumultuous waters are clearly heard, the violin like a small ship, shining and splendid, struggling against them, and the melody of the soloist floating away, facing the waves until the third movement, which is a sonorous image of the hardships of human life itself. A different approach is presented in the Concerto in E minor op. III n. 4 RV 550, which is rather one of the examples of the hybrid between a solo concerto and concerto grosso, as the four violins exchange imitations and short solos in the instrumental ensemble.

The last concerto by the Venetian master, in D major RV 208, “Il Grosso Mogul,” does not fail to demonstrate how demanding it is for a soloist who has to control the technical difficulties as it includes a cadenza written on an endless pedal note. But at the same time, control must be exercised over the affective and expressive registers that the composition develops.

The contemporary works inserted in the middle of this set of concertos present different approaches to the instrumental ensemble and the solo violin. Luca Francesconi’s Spiccato il Volo (1956) has an almost Vivaldian beginning, followed by a frantic movement for solo violin, where the Venetian master’s approach to disquisitions seems to find new melodic and tonal paths without leaving its energetic and rhythmic substratum. Virtuosity is taken to the contemporary, where the first violin formations are deconstructed to create new materials.

Simone Movio’s Incanto XXIII for violin and flute (1978) emphasises that the timbres of the violin and recorder have a similar sonorous precision, an incisive sound that can suddenly turn warm or harden like a stone. The exploration and expansion of the recorder and violin’s formal and timbral aspects seem to be the path Movio chooses for the Incanto series. An even bolder language is shown in Salvatore Sciarrino’s Capriccio no. 2 ca., although distant echoes of the birds of Vivaldi’s Primavera seem to hover amid the violin’s bowings, or perhaps that it is the high-pitched recorder resonances that lead to their reminiscence.

Estroso by Aureliano Cattaneo (1974) is an extension of the usual language, developed from small cells of material that rethink the classical thematic development. This piece shows how an ensemble of baroque music is also capable of generating new timbral and structural perspectives that do not hide a certain tension and mystery. Italian composer Marco Stroppa (1959), who excels in the field of composition for instruments and live electronics, performs Dilanio avvinto; Giovanni Sollima (1962) creates a work of intense beauty in Moghul, shaking one’s emotional world and leading to a dreamlike atmosphere where the strings’ sonority creates a unique soundscape.

Some of these new works were undoubtedly commissioned to illustrate the historical journey of the violin towards unexplored paths. Tonight, in any case, it is worth keeping an eye on the arches, aisles and seats of this cloister. It would not be surprising to catch a fleeting glimpse of a curious Vivaldi who listens attentively not to miss a note of what is in vogue almost three hundred years after his death.

IL GIARDINO ARMONICO

Founded in 1985 and conducted by Giovanni Antonini, Il Giardino Armonico has been established as one of the world’s leading period instrument ensembles. Its repertoire focuses on the 17th and 18th centuries. It has received high acclaim for both concerts and opera productions, like Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo, Vivaldi’s Ottone in Villa, Händel’s Agrippina, Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, La Resurrezione and Giulio Cesare in Egitto with Cecilia Bartoli during the Salzburg Whitsun and Summer Festival 2012. It has been an exclusive ensemble of Teldec Classics for many years, achieving major awards for recording works by Vivaldi and other 18th century composers. It cooperated with Cecilia Bartoli for several successful volumes like Vivaldi Album (Decca, 2000 – Grammy Award), Sacrificium (Decca, 2009 – Platinum Album and Grammy), Farinelli (Decca, 2019).

With Decca/L’Oiseau-Lyre, the ensemble released acclaimed albums such as Händel Concerti Grossi op. VI, Il Pianto di Maria with Bernarda Fink; later two albums with Julia Lezhneva on Decca (Alleluia in 2013 and Händel in Italy in 2015).

The recording of five Mozart Violin Concertos with Isabelle Faust (Harmonia Mundi, 2016) stands as the result of the prestigious cooperation with the great violinist, winning the Gramophone Award and the Choc of the year in 2017.

In co-production with NFM in Wroclaw, the ensemble published Serpent & Fire with Anna Prohaska (Alpha Classics, 2016), winning the ICMA “Baroque Vocal” in 2017 and La morte della Ragione in 2019, winning the Diapason d’Or and the Choc by Classica. The Telemann album won the Diapason d’Or de l’année and the Echo Klassik in 2017. A new Vivaldi Album Concerti per flauto was published in March 2020, awarded the Diapason d’Or. Again on Alpha Classics in October 2020, the ensemble published with Patricia Kopatchinskaja What’s next Vivaldi? focused both on the famous composer and selected contemporary Italian ones, awarded with the Opus Klassik in 2021. Il Giardino Armonico is part of the project Haydn2032 for recording the complete Haydn Symphonies (Alpha Classics) and a series of thematic concerts. In 2015 La Passione won the Echo Klassik while Il Filosofo has been Choc of the year by Classica. Solo e Pensoso was released in 2016, and Il Distratto won the Gramophone Award in 2017. La Roxolana was published in January 2020, L’Addio in January 2021, winning the Choc of the year by Classica and the Diapason d’Or, and Les Heures du Jour in July 2021, winning the Diapason d’Or. From January 2022, a CD box of the first ten volumes is available. The series has been enriched by Die Schöpfung, published in October 2020 with the Bavarian Radio Chorus.

GIOVANNI ANTONINI, contuctor and flutes

Born in Milan, Giovanni studied at the Civica Scuola di Musica and at the Centre de Musique Ancienne in Geneva. He is a founder member of the Baroque ensemble, Il Giardino Armonico, which he has led since 1989. With this ensemble, he has appeared as conductor and soloist on the recorder and Baroque transverse flute in Europe, the United States, Canada, South America, Australia, Japan and Malaysia. He is the Artistic Director of Wratislavia Cantans Festival in Poland and the Principal Guest Conductor of the Mozarteum Orchester and the Kammerorchester Basel.

He has performed with many prestigious artists, including Cecilia Bartoli, Kristian Bezuidenhout, Giuliano Carmignola, Isabelle Faust, Sol Gabetta, Sumi Jo, Viktoria Mullova, Katia and Marielle Labèque, Emmanuel Pahud and Giovanni Sollima. Renowned for his refined and innovative interpretation of the classical and baroque repertoire, Antonini is also a regular guest with the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Concertgebouworkest, the Tonhalle Orchester, the Mozarteum Orchester, the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

His opera productions have included Handel’s Giulio Cesare and Bellini’s Norma with Cecilia Bartoli at Salzburg Festival. In 2018, he conducted Orlando at the Theater an der Wien and returned to the Opernhaus Zurich for Idomeneo. In the 21/22 season he conducts the Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin, the Stavanger Symphony, the Anima Eterna Bruges and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischer Rundfunks. He also directs Cavalieri’s opera Rappresentatione di Anima, et di Corpo for the Theatre an der Wien and a ballet production of Haydn’s Die Jahreszeiten for the Wiener Staatsballett with the Wiener Philharmoniker.

With Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni has recorded numerous CDs of instrumental works by Vivaldi, J.S. Bach (Brandenburg Concertos), Biber and Locke for Teldec. With Naïve, he recorded Vivaldi’s opera Ottone in Villa, and, with Il Giardino Armonico for Decca, Alleluia with Julia Lezhneva and La morte della Ragione, sixteenth- and seventeenth-century instrumental music collections. With Kammerorchester Basel, he recorded the complete Beethoven Symphonies for Sony Classical and a disc of flute concertos with Emmanuel Pahud, entitled Revolution for Warner Classics. In 2013, he conducted a recording of Bellini’s Norma for Decca in collaboration with Orchestra La Scintilla.

Antonini is the Artistic Director of the Haydn 2032 project, created to realise a vision to record and perform with Il Giardino Armonico and Kammerorchester Basel the complete symphonies of Joseph Haydn by the 300th anniversary of the composer’s birth. The first ten volumes have been released on the Alpha Classics label, with two further volumes planned for release every year.

Patricia Kopatchinskaja, violin

“Kopatchinskaja was like a cat teasing a butterfly, always ready to pounce on a passing phrase, whether answering the first violins or duetting with a perky clarinet. It has become her calling card to make the familiar unfamiliar”.
Rebecca Franks, The Times, maig de 2019

With a combination of depth, brilliance and humour, Kopatchinskaja brings an inimitable sense of theatrics to her music. Whether performing a violin concerto by Tchaikovsky, Ligeti or Schoenberg or presenting an original staged project deconstructing Beethoven, Ustwolskaja or Cage, her distinctive approach always conveys the core of the work.

Highlights of the 2020/21 season included a residency with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, performing Shostakovich with Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, the Bamberg Symphony and the SWR Symphony Orchestra. Kopatchinskaja brought her unique creativity to these residencies, performing Pierrot Lunaire and her project Dies Irae to great acclaim. Another highlight of the season was her debut at the BBC Proms, performing Bartók with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Ilan Volkov, which received a 5* review from The Times (as did her Edinburgh Festival recital with Joonas Ahonen). Kopatchinskaja also gave recitals in venues across Europe such as the Wiener Konzerthaus, the DR Koncerthuset in Copenhagen, the Liszt Academy of Music, the Passau Festival, the DeDoelen in Rotterdam and the Gstaad Festival, performing with regular recital partners Joonas Ahonen, Polina Leschenko and Fazil Say.

The 2021/22 season has featured engagements with top-level orchestras, including residencies with the Berlin Philharmoniker and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, a tour with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, appearances with the Toronto Symphony with Gustavo Gimeno, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Manchester Camerata and her continued residency as Artistic Partner with the Camerata Bern.

Kopatchinskaja will continue to showcase the works of living composers such as Luca Francesconi, Michael Hersch, György Kurtág and Márton Illés, in her varied and innovative curated projects like Bye Bye Beethoven and her video recording of Kurt Schwitters’ surreal Dadaist poem Ursonate.

Kopatchinskaja’s other projects explore music staged through contemporary contexts, such as Dies Irae, a musical reflection on the growing environmental crisis. She took this production to Glasgow in November 2021 with RSNO to coincide with the global COP26 summit.

CD releases in the 2020/21 season included Les Plaisirs Illuminés with Sol Gabetta and Camerata Bern (Alpha Classics), nominated for a Gramophone Magazine award, and Francisco Coll’s Violin Concerto with the Orchestra Philharmonique du Luxembourg and Gustavo Gimeno (Pentatone). Kopatchinskaja and Gabetta toured Europe in the autumn of 2021 to mark the release of their duos’ album (Alpha Classics). Kopatchinskaja’s Vivaldi project with Il Giardino Armonico, What’s Next Vivaldi?, featuring new works by living composers, was released on disc in summer 2020 on Alpha Classics and received an Opus Klassik award in autumn 2021. In 2018 she won a Grammy Award in the Best Chamber and Small Ensemble Performance category for Death and the Maiden with The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (Alpha). In 2021 this project was reborn as a semi-staged filmed performance with the Camerata Bern, premiered on HarrisonParrott’s digital platform Virtual Circle.

Kopatchinskaja held the position of Artistic Partner of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra from 2014 – 2018 and is a humanitarian ambassador for Terre des Hommes, the leading Swiss child relief agency. She was awarded the Swiss Grand Award for Music by the Federal Office of Culture for Switzerland in 2017 and has held positions as Artist in Residence at various festivals, including Lucerne (2017) and Ojai (2018).

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Horari oficina

De dimarts a dissabte de 10.00 a 13.30h

Dijous de 16.30 a 19.00

Per a reservar i comprar entrades el mateix dia del concert, de 20.30 a 22.00h