Press: Vivaldi — The Complete Viola d’ Amore Concertos
The seductively charming sound of the Baroque-era viola d’amore takes center stage in this new, all-Vivaldi recording with Billboard classical chart-topping violinist Rachel Barton Pine and the veteran Chicago-based period instrument ensemble Ars Antigua, making its Cedille label debut.
Pine, Cedille’s all-time best-selling artist, and Ars Antigua perform all eight of Vivaldi’s virtuosic concertos for viola d’amore, an unusual instrument of the violin family with 12 strings: six played with the bow, the others resonating passively for a sweet, silvery tone.
In reviewing a program that Pine and Ars Antigua performed at the Chicago Humanities Festival, the Chicago Tribune praised Pine’s “deft, stylish playing” of her 1774 Gagliano viola d’amore. “In everything, the spirit and sensitivity of Barton Pine’s playing were informed by her mastery of the instrument’s intricate technical demands. As much could be said of the alert contributions of her colleagues.”