Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741)

Cello Concerti Vol. 3
Concerto in B Flat Major, RV 423
Concerto in C Minor, RV 402
Concerto in A Minor, RV 418
Concerto in D Major, RV 403
Concerto in B Minor, RV 424
Concerto in D Minor, RV 407
Concerto in E Minor (with bassoon), RV 409
(directed from the keyboards by Nicholas Kraemer)

Once virtually forgotten, Antonio Vivaldi now enjoys a reputation that equals the international fame he enjoyed in his heyday. Born in Venice in 1678, the son of a barber who was himself to win distinction as a violinist in the service of the great basilica of San Marco, where the Gabrielis and Monteverdi had presided, he studied for the priesthood and was ordained in 1703. At the same time he established himself as a violinist of remarkable ability. A later visitor to Venice described his playing in the opera-house in 1715, his use of high positions so that his fingers almost touched the bridge of the violin, leav