With this historic CD series, Tactus and Federico Maria Sardelli – leading Modo Antiquo – produced the first complete recording of Antonio Vivaldi’s Cantatas for soprano. Having appeared only sporadically on the recording scene, the Cantatas constitute a very important group of works within Vivaldi’s output.

Dedicated exclusively to female voices, the Cantatas are divided – as in the Ryom catalogue – into cantatas for soprano and continuo, cantatas for alto and continuo, cantatas for soprano and instruments, and cantatas for alto and instruments. The first complete recording of Vivaldi’s Soprano Cantatas is undertaken by Modo Antiquo with full respect for the original texts and the performance practices of the era. For the performance, the original manuscripts were used wherever possible, usefully supplemented by consultation of the complete critical edition by Francesco Degrada and the Istituto Italiano Antonio Vivaldi, published by Ricordi.

The four CDs are here gathered in a single box set on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of Tactus’s activity.