Vivaldi: Sacred works for soprano & concertos

[Manahan Thomas's] fresh sounding, youthful voice, agile technique and secure intonation are a delight and are qualities that well serve the sometimes theatrical demands of Vivaldi's virtuoso... — BBC Music Magazine, March 2012, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 27th Feb 2012
Catalogue No: CCSSA32311
Label: Channel
Length: 58 minutes

Presto Recording of the Week

27th February 2012

This release includes a digital booklet

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Vivaldi: Concerto for Strings in D minor RV 129 'Madrigalesco'

Work length4:36

Album only

$7.00

Elin Manahan Thomas
Florilegium

I. Adagio

Track length0:59

Album only

$1.75

II. Allegro (ben misurato)

Track length1:37

Album only

$1.75

III. Adagio

Track length0:49

Album only

$1.75

IV. Allegro molto moderato

Track length1:11

Album only

$1.75

Vivaldi: Laudate pueri, RV601

Work length24:04

Album only

$15.75

Elin Manahan Thomas
Florilegium

I. Laudate, pueri, Dominum

Track length3:23

Album only

$1.75

II. Sit nomen Domini

Track length2:31

Album only

$1.75

III. A solis ortu

Track length3:51

Album only

$1.75

IV. Excelsus super omnes

Track length3:01

Album only

$1.75

V. Suscitans

Track length2:19

Album only

$1.75

VI. Ut collocet eum

Track length1:46

Album only

$1.75

VII. Gloria Patri

Track length4:02

Album only

$1.75

VIII. Sicut erat in principo

Track length1:00

Album only

$1.75

IX. Amen

Track length2:11

Album only

$1.75

Vivaldi: Concerto Il Gran Mogul for flute, strings & continuo in D minor, RV431a

Work length8:11

Album only

$5.25

Elin Manahan Thomas
Florilegium

I. Allegro non molto

Track length3:36

Album only

$1.75

II. Larghetto

Track length2:10

Album only

$1.75

III. Allegro

Track length2:25

Album only

$1.75

Vivaldi: Nulla in mundo pax sincera, motet for soprano, strings & continuo, RV 630

Work length12:24

Album only

$7.00

Elin Manahan Thomas
Florilegium

I. Aria - Larghetto

Track length5:53

Album only

$1.75

II. Recitativo

Track length1:06

Album only

$1.75

III. Aria - Allegro

Track length3:18

Album only

$1.75

IV. Alleluia - Allegro

Track length2:07

Album only

$1.75

Vivaldi: Concerto for Violin & Cello in B flat minor, RV 547

Work length9:32

Album only

$5.25

Elin Manahan Thomas
Florilegium

I. Allegro

Track length4:17

Album only

$1.75

II. Andante

Track length1:47

Album only

$1.75

III. Allegro molto

Track length3:28

Album only

$1.75

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Recording of the Week, Vivaldi: Sacred vocal works and concertos

27th February 2012

Welsh soprano Elin Manahan Thomas joins the baroque ensemble Florilegium for Laudate pueri and Nulla in mundo, whilst the group’s founder Ashley Solomon takes centre-stage in the recently-rediscovered flute concerto Il Gran Mogol (receiving only its second outing on record here).

Vivaldi joined the staff of the Ospedale della Pietà in September 1703 as Maestro di Violin. Established in the 14th century, the Pietà was one of four charitable Venetian orphanages for women supported by the state. Vivaldi’s instrumental chamber works cannot be dated with any certainty, nor do we know for whom they were written. Despite this lack of information, we can surmise he produced them for his pupils at the Pietà, perhaps during the late 1720's and 1730's.

Bach, Telemann and several French composers all explored the chamber concerto medium to a great degree. 18th-century Italian composers, who concentrated on opera, sacred and secular music for the voice, appear to have ignored it, with the exception of Vivaldi. Our modern image of Vivaldi is primarily that of a secular composer, yet much of his work was intended for performances in the church. The importance of sacred music for solo voice in the oeuvre of Vivaldi emerges with a bolds statistic: of his fifty or so extant sacred vocal works, thirty are for solo voice.

These sacred pieces reflect the talents of the orphans at the Ospedale della Pietà, which maintained an all-female choir and orchestra responsible for the music in its chapel. Despite its ability to perform choral music at a very high standard, the Pietà also laid special emphasis on works for solo voice.

Reviews

March 2012

[Manahan Thomas's] fresh sounding, youthful voice, agile technique and secure intonation are a delight and are qualities that well serve the sometimes theatrical demands of Vivaldi's virtuoso writing...the interspersed instrumental concerots are played with vitality and finesse. Here is a disc from Florilegium that should disappoint few readers and it deserves to do well.

4th April 2012

The group's sound is less extroverted than many of its European contemporaries, but unbridled flamboyance would not be appropriate in this programme of sacred vocal music and concertos in the ecclesiastical manner...Overall, the stylish performances on this effectively programmed and well-recorded collection make a strong case for a nuanced and relatively understated approach to Vivaldi.

February 2012

Elin Manahan Thomas is a youthful, bright and clean soloist with a strong core to the voice, a good instinct for when to apply vibrato and the technical agility required for throwing off Vivaldi's more virtuoso passages.

January 2012

Manahan Thomas manages all with pleasing athleticism, great textural clarity and an avoidance of anything in the way of intrusive mannerism. She and the sympathetic support provided by Florilegium are sensible to Vivaldi's deftly portrayed images complementing the text...All is played with finesse and affection by soloists and ripienists alike.

27th February 2012

this whole disc represents music making of the highest calibre...[Thomas] demonstrate her impressive technique and unmannered natural sound in 'Nulla in mundo'...The most eye-catching piece here is probably the recently discovered Flute Concerto Il Gran Mogol...It is a short, and well-crafted work, and receives a sensitive reading from Ashley Solomon.

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Recording of the Week, Vivaldi: Sacred vocal works and concertos