L'Estro armonico, Op. 3
Program Notes by Martin Pearlman
L'Estro armonico, the title of Vivaldi's first published collection of concertos, is perhaps best translated as "Harmonic Fancy" or "Whim." The collection of twelve concertos was published in 1711, not in Italy but by Estienne Roger in Amsterdam. It is dedicated to Ferdinando de' Medici of Florence, one of the distinguished patrons of the girls orphanage in Venice where Vivaldi taught music for a good part of his career. Indeed, the concertos would certainly have been first played by the girls and by Vivaldi himself at the Ospedale della Pietà. Roger's publication circulated widely in Europe and was reprinted twenty times over the next several decades. Other editions in London and Paris, as well as pirated editions made Vivaldi's concertos some of the most influential music of the time, alongside that of Corelli.
As presented by Roger, the twelve concertos in L'Estro armonico are organized in four groups of three concertos, each group having one concerto for four violins, one for two violins, and a solo violin concerto. Over time, many arrangements for other instruments were made of this popular music, the most important being the six transcriptions by J. S. Bach. Bach transcribed three of the solo violin concertos as pieces for harpsichord alone (nos. 3, 9 and 12), two of the double violin concertos as organ pieces (nos. 8 and 11), and, most famously, he transformed one concerto for four solo violins into a concerto for four harpsichords and strings (no. 10).
It was indeed Bach's interest in Vivaldi, and particularly in the concertos of L'Estro armonico, that helped spur the Vivaldi revival in the early twentieth century. Scholars who initially took an interest in these works because of their influence on Bach were led to discover a great deal more of Vivaldi's music and make it available to the public. By the mid-twentieth century, Vivaldi began to become a popular composer in his own right, first with The Four Seasons and then with the concertos of L'Estro armonico and many other instrumental and vocal works in his vast output.
Boston Baroque Performances
Concerto in B minor for four violins, No. 10, RV 580
December 31, 2018 & January 1, 2019
Sanders Theater, Cambridge, MA
Martin Pearlman, conductor
Soloists:
Christina Day Martinson
Jesse Irons
Sarah Darling
Asako Takeuchi
December 30, 2018
Strand Theater, Boston, MA
Martin Pearlman, conductor
Soloists:
Christina Day Martinson
Jesse Irons
Sarah Darling
Asako Takeuchi
January 1, 1997
Sanders Theater, Cambridge, MA
Martin Pearlman, conductor
Soloists:
Daniel Stepner
Julie Leven
Danielle Maddon
Judith Eissenberg
December 31, 1996
First Night, Boston, MA
Martin Pearlman, conductor
Soloists:
Daniel Stepner
Julie Leven
Danielle Maddon
Judith Eissenberg
February 15, 1985
Jordan Hall, Boston, MA
Martin Pearlman, conductor
Soloists:
Daniel Stepner
Jane Starkman
Wilma Smith
Judith Eissenberg
October, 17, 1979
Colby College, Waterville, ME
Martin Pearlman, conductor
Soloists:
Daniel Stepner
Anthony Martin
Priscilla Hallberg
Jane Starkman
Concerto in D minor for two violins, No. 11, RV 565
January 6, 2001
Portsmouth Music Hall, Portsmouth, NH
Martin Pearlman, conductor
Soloists:
Daniel Stepner
Julie Leven
December 31, 2000 & January 1, 2001
Sanders Theater, Cambridge, MA
Martin Pearlman, conductor
Soloists:
Daniel Stepner
Julie Leven
January 1, 1987
Sanders Theater, Cambridge, MA
Martin Pearlman, conductor
Soloists:
Daniel Stepner
Jane Starkman
February 15, 1985
Jordan Hall, Boston, MA
Martin Pearlman, conductor
Soloists:
Daniel Stepner
Jane Starkman
Bach, Concerto for four harpsichords in A minor, BWV 1065
(Transcription of Vivaldi's Concerto for four violins, op. 3, no. 10)
May 3, 1985
First and Second Church, Boston, MA
Martin Pearlman, conductor
Harpsichord soloists:
Martin Pearlman
James David Christie
Frances Fitch
Frederick Renz
Bach, Concerto for organ in D minor, BWV 596
(Transcription of Vivaldi's Concerto for two violins, op. 3, no. 11)
March 30, 1976
Old West Church, Boston, MA
Martin Pearlman, conductor
Soloist:
Luigi Tagliavini, organ