In the early twenty-first century, there has been an emerging trend; major labels identifying large cycles from within their classical catalog and issuing a cut-rate box set encompassing them in their entirety. Some critics see this as a negative trend, devaluating the classical catalog, but it makes sound commercial sense - most of these older recordings paid for themselves long ago, and most folks love to receive box sets as gifts, even if they never listen to any more than a fraction of what's inside. Claudio Scimone and his ensemble I Solisti Veneti were among the first groups to heavily invest in the output of Vivaldi for purposes of recording. Warner Classics' Vivaldi: Concertos & Sonatas, Opp. 1-12, collects together all but one of I Solisti Veneti's recordings of Vivaldi's 12 published opera plus Chedeville's Il pastor fido, once proffered as Vivaldi's "Op. 13," and the Six Cellos Sonatas once thought his "Op. 14" in a single, 18-CD box set that retails for a little less than 100 dollars. That's not even five and a half U.S. dollars a disc. However, there's a bit of catch, especially for listeners whose tastes in Vivaldi were cultivated after about 1985 or so. Although I Solisti Veneti does not exceed chamber dimensions, Scimone's ensemble mainly utilizes modern instruments and observes a romantic approach to string tone. Andantes and slower movements are played very slowly, with lots of vibrato, and faster movements seldom exceed Allegro moderato. In Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Scimone's version will seem unfocused, thick as pea soup, and played too slowly for listeners accustomed to the crisp and aggressive attack of Il Giardino Armonico or Europa Galante. Overall, I Solisti Veneti, whose recordings here date from 1966-1988, are most comparable to groups such as the Paillard Ensemble who take a middle ground approach to the interpretation of Baroque music, although later is generally better than earlier - the 1988 recording of L'estro armonico here is not half bad. However, one should consider the generous amounts of music here that involve well-known, even legendary soloists - flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal, violinist Giuliano Carmignola, and oboist Pierre Pierlot are prominently featured in this set, and the last disc is dedicated entirely to cellist Paul Tortelier. It is heartening to see Chedeville rightly credited for his pastiche Il pastor fido, here played by Jean-Pierre Rampal with Robert Veyron-Lacroix on harpsichord, rather than Vivaldi, who has been saddled with this warhorse of sprightly frothiness for far too long. While Rampal is at the top of his game in this 1968 recording, it is a rather thin realization of the Chedeville, as the original music is in three parts whereas this version is only in two; perhaps Erato couldn't afford to hire a cello that day. It might not have been a bad idea to engage Tortelier, whose 1965 recordings of the six Vivaldi cello sonatas published by LeClerc closes out the set. Tortelier's tone is heroic, lyric, and well-rounded in slow movements and crisp and fleet in faster ones - his recordings, the oldest in the set, are among the most forward looking. It is a shame that the Tortelier master tape hasn't held up a little better; the sound is brittle and there are some bad splices here and there, but his performances of these sonatas are still authoritative, even though the continuo is weakly realized. If one wants a lot of Vivaldi at one time for a rock-bottom price, then Warner Classics' Vivaldi: Concertos & Sonatas, Opp. 1-12, isn't a bad proposition. However, time has marched on since these recordings were made, even for Vivaldi. ~ Uncle Dave Lewis, Rovi
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