Vivaldi/Bach: Concerto in G Major BWV 973 - Viktor Hartobanu

Hello friends!

I wish you all a very happy new year! To start this year off well I decided to record the simply lovely (and devilishly difficult) violin concerto in G Major RV 299 by Antonio Vivaldi in a version for harpsichord written by Johann Sebastian Bach.
It's quite likely that without Bach's arrangements of works by Vivaldi we wouldn't know about the latter at all. While he was considered to be one of the greatest composers of that era he got forgotten pretty soon after he left Venice and moved to Vienna where he died alone and impoverished. The efforts of the Leipziger Bach-Gesellschaft researching Bach's works during the 19th century have brought these arrangements back to light which are also an important source for the authentic interpretation of Baroque music in the way that Bach didn't simply adapt the rather scarce original score for the harpsichord, he decided, probably using the writings by Corelli, what types of ornaments and additions to make as well. It can be said that Bach used this opportunity to learn as much about the italian style as it was the most sought after music of that time.

Recorded in the gorgeous chapel of the Vorarlberger Landeskonservatorium Feldkirch, Austria, on my new Salvi Iris, named "Stella Dell'Est".

Stay well-tuned,
Viktor

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