VIVALDI

Violin Concertos Vol. 2

 

Concerto RV 232 in D major

Concerto RV 264 in E major

Concerto RV 325 in G minor

Concerto RV 353 in A major

Concerto RV 243 ‘senza cantin’ in D minor

Concerto RV 368 in Bb flat major

 

Modo Antiquo / Federico Maria Sardelli

Anton Steck - violin

 

This is the second volume of the Vivaldi edition to be dedicated to the violin concertos, and the six works featured represent music in which the composer pushes technique and virtuosity to the limit. They are collectively known as the concertos “Di Sfida”, a term which effectively means “challenging”. One of the pieces included, the amazing concerto RV 368, which is considered by many to be his most technically demanding work in this genre, is here receiving its world premiere recording.     

 

The young German violinist Anton Steck is well known on the international musical scene as an outstanding soloist on the Baroque violin. He is regarded in the early music world as an interpreter who combines a high degree of technical perfection with expressive intensity and enthusiasm in performance.

 

After studying the modern violin in Karlsruhe and the Baroque instrument in Amsterdam, he was engaged as leader with a number of ensembles, including Musica Antiqua Köln, Les Musiciens du Louvre and, since 2005, Concerto Köln. His speciality is the interpretation of virtuoso violin repertoire, which he champions both in concert and on many prize-winning recordings. He thereby pushes back the conventional limitations of playing technique, setting a challenge not only to himself but also to his audiences. In a review in the The Strad in 2005 Heather Kurzbauer wrote, “Combining scholarship with unabashed joie de vivre, Baroque violinist Anton Steck and fellow musicians prove that highbrow musicological research can mix with uninhibited performances”

 

His recordings of the early Mozart violin sonatas (with Robert Hill on fortepiano) and of sonatas by Johann Georg Pisendel (with Christian Rieger on harpsichord) were both awarded the Diapason d’Or, among other prizes. In addition to his numerous chamber music CDs with Christian Rieger and Marieke Spaans, Anton Steck also made the world premiere recording of the violin concertos of Mozart’s contemporary Antonio Rosetti (KKO-Mannheim/Johannes Moesus).

 

The outstanding early music group Modo Antiquo under its conductor Federico Maria Sardelli has already appeared in recordings of Vivaldi”s music on Naive notably on the CD “Arie d’opera” (OP30411) and with Anna Caterina Antonacci (‘Era la notte’, V5050). They also feature in the Vivaldi Edition’s new opera, Atenaïde, to be released in September 2007.

 

Naive OP30427