Certainly, there are the Four Seasons and all the violin concertos which are more famous and virtuosic than other works. But it is here, in his concertos for solo strings, that Antonio Vivaldi showcases his writing talent at its highest and purest level: concise, vivacious, deep and immediately emotional. A Vivaldi in the firmament, served here with passion and excellence by Accademia Bizantina.

The Concerti for strings take you on a journey of feelings, diverse landscapes, and histories. Here we have thirteen musical miniatures in which emerge the influence of neighbouring and distant lands, and of the sea surrounding Venice. This is clear in concerto RV 163, entitled Conca, inspired by the sound of the conch shell (or Wettertrompete), which Vivaldi had the chance to hear in Bohemia, and to which sailors attributed the power to appease or unleash the storms.

The Concerti for viola d'amore are of a more mysterious character. Notably because this fascinating instrument has strings which vibrate independently when the melodic strings are rubbed. Vivaldi, like some of his students - and like Alessandro Tampieri! - was a great virtuoso of the instrument, which has incidentally only been used on and off since the 19th century. The soft, evocative sounds of the viola d'amore, reminiscent of Oriental worlds, here reach their climax in the poignant Largo of concerto RV 393, the lively finale of concerto RV 394 and the delicate Andante in D minor of concerto RV 395.

The Vivaldi Edition
Naïve is leading one of the most ambitious recording projects of the 21st century. Launched in the early 2000s, the trailblazing Vivaldi Edition is bringing to light the vast collection of neglected works by Antonio Vivaldi held in the National University Library of Turin, Italy - much of which has never been heard before.

With 450 works ranging from single arias to full scale operas, the extraordinary collection is in fact Vivaldi's personal library of original manuscripts and as such the largest intact collection of scores by an eighteenthcentury composer that exists. Without it, there would be an incomplete picture of the man who was undoubtedly the most important Italian composer of his time.

The amount of instrumental music is prodigious: almost 300 concertos for one or multiple instruments, strings and basso continuo (including 110 concertos for violin and 39 concertos for bassoon), cantatas, motets and 15 complete operas. With very few exceptions, it is the sole source for the composer's sacred music and operas – the latter constituting the major revelation of the collection. Until recently the great majority of these works remained unknown to the public.

To date, with over 800,000 copies sold worldwide, the Vivaldi Edition boasts more than fifty albums, including 15 operas. Now, over 15 years later, it continues its mission as an aural documentation of one of the most remarkable composers who ever lived, with its 56th album release. This new recording will be followed over the next two years by other releases from Accademia Bizantina and Ottavio Dantone, Fabio Biondi (in his first appearance in the Edition), Sergio Azzolini, Delphine Galou and Christophe Coin.