I uploaded this album for educational purposes. Several years ago, I found it in a box of free CDs. I didn't expect much, but I saw that there was a concerto or two that I wasn't familiar with. When I played the CD on my car stereo, I was surprised by the high quality of the performances.

A quick look on Wikipedia showed me that Alberto Lizzio was a pseudonym devised by the record producer Alfred Scholz. The ensemble was either convened only for the recording in question, or else was working under a false name.

I became fascinated with the idea that this exceptional recording was made anonymously. Mediocre or socially-unacceptable work produced in anonymity is one thing, but this recording suggested to me a kind of absurdist return to medieval ideals of artistic creation-- master artisans toiling away on gothic cathedrals, knowing that they wouldn't live to see their work completed, disappearing into a crowd of fellow workers that spanned generations... Admittedly, I got a little carried away, and yet...

I resolved over a year ago to upload the album, and see if anyone could tell me more about this recording or these musicians. Disc drive and CD have finally coincided, and now it's up to you, dear listener, to leave your comment.

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)

'Il prete rosso,' he was called, 'the red priest.' However, the redness of Vivaldi's hair characterised him far more than his priesthood. Having received the tonsure at the age of fifteen, he did not take holy orders as a priest until ten years later and only read Mass for less than a year, according to his own account. In addition, his relationship with Anna Girò could not be reconciled with his priestly state: although he himself always denied so, there was a lot of backbiting that Girò was his mistress.
For posterity however, Vivaldi is important because of his enormous musical output. He wrote more than 500 concerts, 90 sonatas, several sacred works and at least 20 operas. Yet his concerti have been criticized; Vivaldi was attacked for not writing 500 works, but 500 times the same.

The resemblance of some of Vivaldi's themes has also had its consequences for musicologists trying to catalogue his works; although some compositions at first glance seem to be identical, having an initial theme in common, closer study reveals that the continuation does have differences. At the present time several catalogues exist, but the most current is the one published by Peter Ryom in 1974, the so-called Ryom Verzieichnis or RV.
Ryom catalogued thematically ; he discerned concertos for strings and accompaniment (for instance RV 116 and 124), for solo violin (RV 256), other solo concertos (RV 415, 425), double concertos (RV 524 and 533), multiple concertos (RV 571) and so on.

The origins and exact meaning of the term 'concerto' have long been disputed. On the one hand it is said to have derived from the medieval Italian word concertare which means 'to cooperate,' on the other hand the theoretician Praetorius claimed as early as 1619 that the term referred to the Latin concertare, which means 'to fight' Both meanings, however, apply to the genre since the players work together as well as compete with each other.
Antonio Vivaldi adhered to the types of concertos that evolved in the seventeenth century and the beginning of the eighteenth; the solo concerto, the double concertos and the concerto grosso. He also composed sixty concerti ripieni, string concertos without soloist, examples of which are the two Concerti per Archi e Cembalo (RV 116 and 124). According to the custom at the time, the harpsichord (Cembalo) played an important role besides the strings (Archi): it furnished accompaniment for which only the bass part and some chord symbols were noted down. The elaboration was left to the performer.

Among Vivaldi's approximately 350 concertos for one soloist, the 230 odd concertos for solo violin are the largest group. They reflect the important role Vivaldi himself played both as a violinist and a teacher. On the other hand, he composed several concertos for other instruments.
In addition to his solo concertos, those for two or more instruments need to be mentioned: in his Concerto for two oboes, bassoon, two horns, violin, strings and organ (RV 571) Vivaldi refers to the concerto grosso developed by his countryman Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713). Vivaldi was an important intermediary in this field influencing for instance Johann Sebastian Bach.
Nevertheless he could not foresee that this genre would not outlive himself nor Bach; it vanished after the middle of the century. - Frits de Haen

1-3 RV 116 Archi e Cembalo C-dur
4-6 RV 124 Archi e Organo D-dur
7-9 RV 256 Archi e Cembalo 'Del Ritiro' Es-dur
10- 12 RV 415 Violoncello, Archi e Cembalo G-dur
13-15 RV 425 Mandolino, Archi e Cembalo C-dur
16-18 RV 524 2 Violini, Archi e Cembalo B-dur
19-21 RV 533 2 Flauti, Archi e Cembalo C-dur
22-24 RV 571 2 Oboi, Fagotto, 2 Corni, Violino, Archi e Organo F-dur

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