Julien Chauvin and Le Concert de la Loge meanwhile don’t fall into the “pretty-trap”. 58 of the Vivaldi Edition)–where Mintz’s lyrical tone pays off.

They are not remotely competitive in any movement except perhaps the gorgeous Largo of RV 387–based on an aria from Vivaldi’s opera Giustino (Vol. The staid, all-too-proper orchestral playing can’t hold a candle to Naïve’s band. Played uniformly beautifully and prim, they sound aged after 20 years. Listening bodes well and so does comparison: Shlomo Mintz and the Israel Chamber Orchestra have recorded three of these (Nimbus). 63, Naïve’s Vivaldi Edition does just that with this exemplary disc: Six seldom recorded concertos, all of theatrical quality but for the calm and simpler RV 321, all late Vivaldi, written sometime after 1724.

The seasoned eye, meanwhile, will take one glance at a disappearing dorsal fin and immediately conclude: “Oh, look, there’s Laura!” Same thing with Vivaldi violin concertos: The more we indulge, the greater the differentiation and joy.

Unless you are a cetologist, all whales of a species look alike to you.

Vivaldi operas naive