Nature in Vivaldi’s Sounds: Concertos for Violin, Flute and Two Mandolins

Violinist Edson Scheid returns from touring the world with Joyce DiDonato to join Crescendo Period and Andean Players in concert

LAKEVILLE, CT, UNITED STATES, September 24, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Crescendo, Lakeville’s award-winning music program, presents the second concert of its 21st season, featuring works for solo instruments and chamber orchestra by the extroverted Italian virtuoso of the Baroque, Antonio Vivaldi.

Vivaldi conveyed the beauty and dramatic conflicts of nature in his instrumental music with an intensity unparalleled by his contemporaries. In the violin concerto “Tempesta di mare” (The Storm at Sea) and the flute concertos "La notte" (The Night) and "Il gardellino" (The Goldfinch), he demonstrates adept use of the solo instruments, using their sounds to evoke unique affects and atmospheres depicting nature. “It’s amazing how Vivaldi's concerti remain so fresh even 300 years after they were composed! I never get tired of them. He developed a musical vocabulary that is so appealing to audiences today. I’m very excited to re-visit the world of Vivaldi’s concertos with Crescendo this October!” violinist Edson Scheid observes.

Crescendo’s Founding Artistic Director Christine Gevert remarks: “From the very beginning of “Tempesta di mare”, the forcefully rising and falling scales and arpeggios immerse you in the experience of a storm, whether you relate to it as a violent weather event or an internal turmoil. The sudden quiet moments that follow, and the sweet and calm melodies of the soloist, feel like an immense relief, bringing a peace that you didn’t know you were longing for. And then the storm returns in a dramatic conclusion. Italian Baroque composers were really expert at building drama—and Vivaldi is probably one of the musicians who does this most brilliantly in instrumental music!”

While Vivaldi doesn’t have a direct connection with Latin America, besides writing an opera about the famous Mexican ruler Moctezuma II, the Baroque music of Western Europe was widely performed there, introduced by the Jesuits. Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Mandolins will be performed on two charangos (small Andean stringed instruments of the lute family, from the Quechua and Aymara peoples), with the addition of quenas (Andean wood flutes) to the string orchestra, giving our listeners a taste of the fusion of traditional and folk instruments that might have been heard in the New World. Two of the performers, Carlos Boltes and Rodrigo Tarraza, were members of the world-famous Chilean folk group “Barroco Andino” founded in the early 1970s by the recently deceased composer Jaime Soto León. This ensemble was acclaimed the world over for its fusion of musical elements of classical European culture with typical Latin American sounds and rhythms. Rodrigo Tarraza, who studied Baroque transverse flute with the renowned Dutch performer Barthold Kuijken, recognizes the importance of bringing to our audiences sounds that remind us of the Colonial period. “We can’t be sure about how the European Baroque music actually sounded then in the New World, but accounts of the times describe indigenous people adapting the music they learned from the Jesuits, and performing them on their own instruments. Jaime Soto León’s legacy of showing a different version of Baroque music is important beyond the politically tumultuous times of its origin.”

The performers are Edson Scheid, Baroque violin, Rodrigo Tarraza, traverso, Carlos Boltes and Scott Hill, charango, with strings and basso continuo players of Crescendo Period Instrument Orchestra, and Gonzalo Cortés and Rodrigo Tarraza, quenas, directed by Christine Gevert from the harpsichord.

The concerts will take place on Saturday, October 5, 2024 at 6:00 pm at Trinity Church, 484 Lime Rock Rd., Lakeville, CT, and on Sunday, October 6, 2024 at 4:00 pm at Saint James Place, 352 Main Street, Great Barrington, MA. Tickets are available online at www.crescendomusic.org, or on a first come, first served basis at the door, 45 minutes prior to the concert.

Support for the concerts has been provided to Crescendo by the Connecticut State Department of Economic and Community Development/Connecticut Office of the Arts (COA) from the Connecticut State Legislature. We also thank NBT Bank and WMNR Fine Arts Radio for their support.

Christine Gevert
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