La Porta delle Music

VIVALDI Sinfonia for Strings in D, RV 125. Concertos for Strings: in c, RV 510; in d, RV 128; in d, RV 246; in F, RV 138; in g, RV 330; in g, RV 157; in C, RV 508 • Florian Deuter, Mónica Waisman (vn); Harmonie Universelle • ACCENT 24266 (61:31) Was it really as “recently” as 1974 that we were all in awe of Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s recording of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons? That we were thunderstruck by the precision with which this small group of vibratoless strings, with piercing winds, could play this over-familiar music, and make it sound so fresh? Yes, it was, and it is to the credit of pioneers like Harnoncourt that such groups as Harmonie Universelle have surpassed his early efforts tenfold. In brief, this is a remarkable CD. To a certain extent, Stravinsky’s famous crack that Vivaldi didn’t write 500 concertos, but the same concerto 500 times, has a certain validity. His allegros are often at the same tempo, or at least within the same tempo r