The first violin, director of the Collegium Musicum , Johann Georg Pisendel, had met and frequented the Red Priest during a long stay in Venice between 1716 and 1717 as a member of a select group of four musicians in the retinue of the Elector of Saxony. The young violinist had studied the instrument with Giuseppe Torelli and was a singing student of the famous castrato Francesco Antonio Pistocchi.
Once in the lagoon city, he received lessons, both in violin and composition, from the now famous Vivaldi – “an old man gifted with a prodigious fury to create”, as Charles De Brosses described him – and established a deep friendship with him. He never missed a single concert held at the Ospedale della Pietà, where he was fascinated by the performances of the young guests trained there by the Red Priest. Upon his return to Dresden, he brought with him compositions written under Vivaldi’s supervision, as well as works that the Venetian maestro had dedicated to him, as well as dozens of copies of symphonies and concertos transcribed personally from the originals. This repertoire soon became known and widespread in Germany, even though the Dresden orchestra had already enjoyed some of Vivaldi’s concertos in the past. However, Pisendel, in order to adapt the pieces to German taste, inserted variations and ornaments, even assigning some parts to the wind instruments, not foreseen in the original scores. The Dresden orchestra was a European excellence and showed particular enthusiasm for these innovative works which soon spread throughout the country.
The program
- Antonio Vivaldi
– Symphony The Chorus of the Muses (RV149)
– Violin Concerto in G minor “dedicated to Mr. Pisendel” (RV 314a)
I. Allegro
II. Adagio cantabile
III. Allegro
- Johann Georg Pisendel
– Sonata in C minor for two oboes, two violins, viola and basso continuo
I. Largo
II. Allegro
- A.Vivaldi
– Concerto in A Major for violin and another violin in echo (RV 522)
I. Allegro
II. Larghetto
III. Allegro
- A.Vivaldi
– Concerto in D minor for viola d’amore, lute, strings and basso continuo (RV 540)
I. Allegro
II. Adagio
III. Allegro
- J.G.Pisendel
– Violin Concerto in E flat major
I. Allegro
II. Moderato
III. Allegro - A.Vivaldi
– Concerto “for the Dresden Orchestra” (RV 577)
I. Allegro
II. Largo non molto
III. Allegro
Europe Galante Orchestra
Fabio Biondi, violin, soloist and conductor
Violins I
Fabio Ravasi
Barbara Altobello
Rossella Borsoni
Violins II
Andrea Rognoni
Silvia Falavigna
Stefano Raccagni
Violets
Stefano Marcocchi
Armando Barilli
Cellos
Alessandro Andriani
Perikli Pite
Double bass
Patxi Montero
Theorbo
Giangiacomo Pinardi
Harpsichord
Paola Poncet
Flutes
Marco Flayed
Petr Zejfart
Oboes
Pier Luigi Fabretti
Guido Campana
Bassoon
Yoan Alder
Europa Galante
was born in 1989 from the desire of its artistic director, Fabio Biondi, to found an Italian instrumental group for the interpretations on period instruments of the great baroque and classical repertoire. The discovery of ancient music was then the exclusive prerogative of musicians from Northern Europe and the need for an Italian re-reading of this repertoire was the basis for the creation of Europa Galante.