Vivaldi. Violin Sonata RV 829

In summer 2023 Dr. Javier Lupiáñez, musicologist, violinist, and artistic director of Scaramuccia, managed to identify a new sonata by Vivaldi, previously cataloged under the name of another composer. After the discovery, he contacted his colleague, also a Vivaldi specialist, Prof. Fabrizio Ammetto, and together they prepared an article that will be published in the next issue of the journal Studi Vivaldiani. After evaluating the research of the two scholars, the scientific committee of the Istituto Italiano Antonio Vivaldi confirmed Vivaldi’s authorship and included the composition in the official catalogue with the new number RV 829.

This is Vivaldi’s most explicit example of a Sonate auf Concertenart, which is a type of sonata that Vivaldi used as a “business card” to show his great skills as a virtuoso. These sonatas are quite unusual in the Italian repertoire before Tartini, which makes this composition very special since it is dated on the second decade of the 18th century. Scaramuccia has recorded the new sonata as a world premiere for the recording label Snakewood Editions.

The recording has been released in digital format. Along with the high-quality audio files, you can download a nice and detailed booklet with all the information about this discovery and its performance.

Scaramuccia:
Javier Lupiañez, violin and direction
Inés Salinas, violoncello
Fernando Aguado, harpsichord
Earl Christy, theorbo

Recorded at Protestantse Onze-Lieve-Vrouwe-kerk Uitwijk
(The Netherlands) 30 October 2023
Recording and mastering: Erik de Goederen
Recording producer: Giorgos Samoilis
Editing: Javier Lupiáñez

The Sound

The recordings on this CD were made with a proprietary microphone technique, called ECA, that was developed by our sound engineer in order to achieve maximum sound fidelity, with very good positioning of the instruments in the virtual space that is being created between your speakers. The mixing and mastering process has been performed with an almost fully analog equipment chain in order to maintain the complex tonal character of the sound of gut strings and the harpsichord. This results in a musical vividness and three-dimensional sound that is rarely heard in acoustic music recordings.