Of the many cello concertos by Vivaldi, two (although catalogued as RV787 and RV788) are considered lost. Or rather... the only surviving part is the viola part, an inner part, with many rests, as is quite common in Baroque music... The manuscript was found in a folder containing viola parts of Vivaldian pieces, some of them well-known; the two concertos bear the dedication "per Teresa", one of his "girls" from the Pio Ospedale della Pietà. And Teresa was certainly a true virtuoso!
In 2023, in preparation for an album to be recorded with Il Pomo d’Oro, I looked at and studied these fascinating and - of course - mysterious manuscripts for several days. What I did was to fully respect the viola part (dynamics, rests, etc.), breathing it as much as possible and trying to find its mirror image. I wrote everything else freely, without stylistic constraints. One thing is certain: the architecture is Vivaldian. I recorded The Lost Concerto on the album Al-Bunduqiyya - The Lost Concerto with Il Pomo d’Oro, and I have been performing it with the same ensemble for a few years now. I have also worked on the manuscript of RV788, which will be available soon.
Giovanni Sollima
CELLO SOLO + VIOLIN I + VIOLIN II + VIOLA + BASSO CONTINUO
Duration 11:30
Of the many cello concertos by Vivaldi, two (although catalogued as RV787 and RV788) are considered lost. Or rather... the only surviving part is the viola part, an inner part, with many rests, as is quite common in Baroque music... The manuscript was found in a folder containing viola parts of Vivaldian pieces, some of them well-known; the two concertos bear the dedication "per Teresa", one of his "girls" from the Pio Ospedale della Pietà. And Teresa was certainly a true virtuoso!
In 2023, in preparation for an album to be recorded with Il Pomo d’Oro, I looked at and studied these fascinating and - of course - mysterious manuscripts for several days. What I did was to fully respect the viola part (dynamics, rests, etc.), breathing it as much as possible and trying to find its mirror image. I wrote everything else freely, without stylistic constraints. One thing is certain: the architecture is Vivaldian. I recorded The Lost Concerto on the album Al-Bunduqiyya - The Lost Concerto with Il Pomo d’Oro, and I have been performing it with the same ensemble for a few years now. I have also worked on the manuscript of RV788, which will be available soon.
Giovanni Sollima
CELLO SOLO + VIOLIN I + VIOLIN II + VIOLA + BASSO CONTINUO
Duration 11:30
