Vivaldi's Women
Jess Dandy (contralto), Robert Howarth, Claire Booth (soprano), Renata Pokupić (mezzo-soprano), Louise Strickland, Carina Drury, La Serenissima, Adrian Chandler
Vivaldi’s use of colour and texture is, like the great Venetian painters before him, one of the defining characteristics of his style – as La Serenissima’s new disc vividly demonstrates. This...
Vivaldi's Women
Jess Dandy (contralto), Robert Howarth, Claire Booth (soprano), Renata Pokupić (mezzo-soprano), Louise Strickland, Carina Drury, La Serenissima, Adrian Chandler
Purchase product
Vivaldi’s use of colour and texture is, like the great Venetian painters before him, one of the defining characteristics of his style – as La Serenissima’s new disc vividly demonstrates. This...
About
‘Vivaldi’s Women’ showcases Vivaldi compositions written for the women of the Ospedale della Pietài, a Venetian institution (founded c.1340) that cared for unwanted children, often illegitimate or physically disadvantaged.
This latest release from La Serenissima includes a world premiere recording of a newly-discovered concerto in F, and instruments invented by Vivaldi himself including the violin ‘in tromba marina’, a newly commissioned Italian viola d’amore (to a design by Stradivarius) and a chalumeau.
La Serenissima is recognised as the UK’s leading exponent of the music of 18th Century Venice and connected composers. Uniquely, the group’s entire repertoire is edited from source material, and it has been praised for its “glorious and all-too-rare ability to make one’s pulse race afresh with every new project” - Gramophone
Contents and tracklist
- Robert Howarth
- La Serenissima
- Adrian Chandler
- Claire Booth, Renata Pokupić, Louise Strickland, Carina Drury, Robert Howarth, Jess Dandy
- La Serenissima
- Adrian Chandler
Awards and reviews
October 2022
Vivaldi’s use of colour and texture is, like the great Venetian painters before him, one of the defining characteristics of his style – as La Serenissima’s new disc vividly demonstrates. This collection of sacred vocal and instrumental works written for the female performers of Venice’s Pietà exploits a host of unusual instruments and vocal timbres.
Mar/Apr 2023
The performance by La Serenissima is well done, with good intonation and a nice sense of phrasing. Claire Booth’s soprano, used sparingly, is nice and full in terms of tone, and the real power belongs to contralto Jess Dandy, whose rich, dark voice and vocal flexibility outlines Vivaldi’s often tortuous parts with ease.
November 2022
Jess Dandy is a game soloist in the wonderfully fiery Cur sagittas, luscious breadth of tone spilling over and softening some of the more awkward gear-shifts of register.
