An innovator and a revolutionary composer, it’s thanks to the Red Priest that the solo concerto made its way through Europe, influencing the likes of J.S. Bach and Handel and the subsequent course of music history. Published in 1714 (or 1716 as most scholars today tend to believe) and reprinted illegally numerous times in pre-copyright Europe, La Stravaganza, op.4 contains 12 solo concertos which can be defined as unsurpassed models of their kind, and the manifesto of Vivaldi’s aesthetic.

The twelve vibrant, high-voltage concertos are played on period instruments and directed by one of the world’s most noted Vivaldi experts, Federico Maria Sardelli, with his baroque ensemble Modo Antiquo.

Sardelli is a versatile and gifted artist - painter, prize-winning novelist, two-time Grammy Award nominee, and of course a conductor, composer and musicologist. He has been in charge of the Vivaldi catalogue (the Ryom Vivaldi-Werkverzeichnis) since 2007. Russian violinist Anton Martynov completes the remarkable cast in a set of outstanding performances.

Audio Format: DDD
Recorded date & place: January/February 2017 – Oratorio di S. Francesco Poverino, Florence, Italy
Duration: 97 min.
Notes: Italian, English