What’s Next Vivaldi?
Patricia Kopatchinskaja
Giovanni Antonini
Il Giardino Armonico
Alpha Classics CD 624
Combining Kopatchinskaja’s extravagant avant garde sensibilities with the iconoclastic Antonini, complete with his original instruments ensemble, might seem like an unlikely mix, but one glance at the track listing and it all makes sense. Kopatchinskaja had long dreamt of closing the circle between Vivaldi’s explosive and inventive virtuosity and modern compositions. She cites the rhythmic intent and dynamic contrasts that inform so many original instruments performances. This disc takes five key Vivaldi Concertos and intersperses them between the work of five contemporary Italian composers, while throwing in a Bartok ‘encore’ – just for fun.
This is a disc that starts as it means to carry on. If it were an LP you’d wonder if you’d left the turntable set to 45! That opening Concerto is RV253 La Tempesta Di Mare and Antonini is as enthusiastic in his tempo as Il Giardino are in responding to the tempestuous demands of the score. The meteorological mayhem is an open invitation to PK too, actively encouraging the vivid and inventive eccentricity in her playing. That range, attack and musical contrast sets the scene for the entire disc. This is music played with energy and intent, explicit rhythms sharply contrasted with space and poise. The modern compositions vary in style, from direct evolutions of the source music (Francesconi’s Spiccato…) to the overtly avant garde (Cattaneo’s brilliant Estroso…) to the deeply atmospheric (Simone Movio’s Incanto XIX). Above it all, PK’s solo instrument dances, skitters and slides, leading and startling, coaxing and capering. It’s a performance that’s innovative, challenging and evocative of the Red Priest’s own impact on the staid musical strictures of his age.
You can quibble with the circularity of the logic or its intellectual basis, but there’s no ignoring the commitment of the players to this project. In Antonini and Il Giardino Armonico, Kopatchinskaja has found perfect partners with which to explore the outer limits of the classical envelope. It’s a path that can easily lead nowhere (or nowhere good) but in this case soloist, orchestra and composers walk the tightrope between self-expression and discipline. The Vivaldi concerti are played with verve and attitude, creating a firm framework for and tying together disparate the modern compositions. There’s barely a movement or track that stretches past five-minutes, the whole becoming a kaleidoscope of succeeding musical vignettes: If one doesn’t grab you the next one will.
Inventive, exciting, dramatic and at times quite beautiful, this is a provocative musical journey that stays just the right side of self indulgent, a stark contrast to the ‘smooth modernism’ that is currently becoming increasingly popular. It captures the ethos and attitude of Alpha Classics perfectly, their commitment to music that might not be easy but is all the more rewarding for that.
