Vivaldi published his Op 9 concertos, La cetra ('The Lyre'), in 1727. Soon after, he presented Charles VI, the Habsburg emperor, with a manuscript set of concertos, also called La cetra. It was long supposed that these were the same concertos until someone looked at them more carefully, and noticed that 11 of the 12 were entirely different works. Vivaldi had simply used the same name again for a set of pieces he thought particularly well suited to the needs of the Viennese court. No one seems to have gathered them together for performance as a group until now. The six presented here show Vivaldi in his grandest and most magnificent vein, and exceptionally varied in mood.
The first item (No 2 of the set) is a dashing C major piece, with vigorous scales to catch the attention, then more contemplative minor-key music with much brilliant high writing for the soloist; there's a quietly eloquent slow movement, again with violin reaching its upper reaches; and in the finale, a lively, playful piece, the cadenza is positively stratospheric.
The second concerto (No 10) is entirely different, soft-toned, with a lovely E major glow, and a tenderness to the musical ideas untypical of Vivaldi. Then comes a big C minor work (No 7) with large gestures in its outer movements; in the finale there's a huge crescendo that makes the later Mannheim ones sound tame by comparison, with some elaborate violin coloratura.
The final concerto, in F major (No 4), is a big, ceremonial, stately piece, originally composed 'per la solennità di San Lorenzo', but it serves Charles VI pretty well, too, with a virtuoso finale to round it off. Perhaps the most powerful of the concertos, however, is No 11, full of nervous energy in its first movement, with an improvisatory violin line in its second above soft chords, and a strong reminiscence of the FourSeasons (not the only one here) in the finale.
This is an immensely enjoyable disc: the music very characteristic, but much freer of cliché than Vivaldi sometimes is. The violin-playing from Andrew Manze is of an extremely high order: rhythms beautifully springy, articulation clear and precise, intonation perfect, great refinement in the shaping of phrases, and a real command of the logic of the music. The orchestral support is strong and energetic, the recorded quality firstrate.
An outstanding CD in every way.