The seven concertos presented on this CD constitute an anthology of Vivaldi’s repertory for strings in his most preferred forms: the four-part concerto without a solo instrument, and the concerto with one or two solo violins.

Although the three types of the genre were already well known when Vivaldi began to cultivate them in the first decade of the 18th century, the advent of the Red Priest caused an authentic revolution in the repertory both in Italy and abroad. Apart from the sensuous musical substance which characterises them, the main formal novelty of Vivaldi’s concertos consists in the “stellar” arrangement of the solo parts, which in Vivaldi’s works is seen in a hitherto unknown splendour.

Vivaldi raises the soloist to the position of authentic protagonist of the concerto, going beyond the discreet role which the fathers of the genre - Corelli, Torelli and Albinoni among others – had given them.

Although the string concertos without a soloist – called 'Concerti Ripieni' by Vivaldi – prove to be less spectacular because of the absence of a soloist, the personality of the Venetian maestro still stands out.