Greetings Konstantin, First, bravo! I sincerely enjoyed. Your playing and tone are nicely balanced in ensemble. That said, I wholeheartedly agree with you. I don't think there is any evidence to imply RV 540 was intended for mandolin. If anything, I would argue that the conventional d-minor lute of the time seems far and away most likely given the occasion for which this concerto was written.
I realize that in this setting you likely have little say regarding overall interpretation, but I like the first movement taken just a little faster. Also, the Boccherini-like appearance of castanets in the last movement was a little startling and struck me as pretty far removed from appropriate to this context. I actually liked the smooth, round tone added by the recorder early on. I'm curious about your own instrument. Who is the maker? Was it based on a period original? It looks rather large to me, a lot like the modern idealized barockmandoline/sopranlaute recently popular in Germany. I'm also interested in your choice of thumb-under technique. All of the iconography of which I'm aware portrays the thumb out on this particular instrument in this particular era. Still, all said a fine-sounding and enjoyable performance. Again, bravo! . . . And finally, do you mind if I share your e-mail to an early-mandolin group on Facebook? Best, Eugene ________________________________________ From: [email protected] [[email protected]] on behalf of Konstantin Shchenikov [[email protected]] Sent: Sunday, April 19, 2015 7:25 AM To: lute list Subject: [LUTE] Vivaldi RV540 webcast Dear colleagues! I am proud to present webcast recording of last concert I've took a part. We played a lot of Italiat XVIII c music in Tchaikovsky Concert Hall of Moscow Philarmonie with Moscow early music band "The Pocket Symphony". Among all continuo things I've played solo Vivaldi RV 540 for lute and viola d'amore using baroque mandolin lute-like way with fingers. I made some research about year ago and thanks to this list came to conclusion that concert was writing not for mandolin :) But music director engaged me as soloist mandolinist anyway by his own reasons. His taste dictated soprano range instrument playing in the same octave with viola d'amore, and it was his decision to make. I was a bit sceptical in the very beginning but now I hear it's nice anyway and mandolin could be of use. It's just my opinion without any claims. Here is the link (RV540 starts about 1 h 05 min): http://www.meloman.ru/concert/znamenitye-instrumentalnye-koncerty-epohi-barokko/#webcast I would be happy to have some your comments, opinions and waiting for criticism. Best regards from St.Petersburg, Konstantin. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
