In 1930 the Italian National University Library
in Turin purchased the personal collection of autograph manuscripts by
the great Venetian composer, Antonio Vivaldi. Without this fortuitous
incident, we would have remained forever with only a very partial
picture of a man who was arguably the most significant Italian
composer of the eighteenth century.
The collection contains no less than 450 works by Vivaldi: hundreds of
concertos for various instruments and much vocal music, both secular
and sacred. With few exceptions, it is the only source we have of his
sacred music and operas, and until recently a great part of this music
had never been heard by today’s public.
The Vivaldi Edition recording project was conceived by the Italian
musicologist Alberto Basso and launched in 2000 together with the
Parisian record company “Naïve”. As it turned out, the manuscripts in
Turin were Vivaldi’s private library of music scores which he kept at
home. The aim of this project is to record the entire collection. To
date more than sixty-four titles have been released, all performed by
many of the most notable specialists in historical performance
practice today.
Creating an aural rendering of this music has significantly increased
our knowledge and appreciation of Antonio Vivaldi while further
underlining his influence and decisive role in the history of Western
music. Moreover, one must not underestimate the impact of more than
150 hours of first-class works being made accessible to the
music-loving public.
In recording this music the Vivaldi Edition project is rescuing music
that might easily have been lost forever.
Once recorded this exceptional music will remain with us for evermore.
Susan Orlando
artistic director
