Nisi Dominus - or Psalm 126 (127) - was attributed to Vivaldi only last year, just before this recording was made. Yes, I'll say it: it is a glorious Gloria.īut the revelation here is the Nisi Dominus (RV 803), the jewel in the crown of this disc.

This account must head to the top regions of the list of period-performance The soloists (sopranos Carolyn Sampson and Joanne Lunn, mezzo Joyce DiDonato) sing their hearts out and the orchestra plays dynamically with beautiful expression. The way he shapes vocal lines constantly refreshes a work you thought you knew. King performs the Gloria with tremendously engaging energy that snaps you to attention from the opening notes and holds your interest to the end. Gloria in D, coupled with two lesser known works and the earlier Gloria of the obscure Giovanni Maria Ruggieri that inspired Vivaldi's own piece.Īs we have come to expect when King and his players turn their hand to any project, the music-making here is first-class all the way. Here, in the final volume of ten, they offer his most famous choral work, the Robert King and the King's Consort have been surveying Vivaldi's sacred choral music for the last several years. Just because we can record Vivaldi's complete choral music, should we? Just because the absence of copyright means we can re-arrange his music to make it more 'accessible,' should we? In this case, the answers are definitive: a big yes to the first, a big no to the second. Here are two discs that address the classic tension between the ability and the desirability of doing something.

The King's Consort Conducted By Robert King Gloria (By Giovanni Maria Ruggieri, RV Anh.

Vivaldi red priest