THE VIVALDI PROJECT

• Bréval: Trio Concertant et Diologué - I. Allegro

"To admit a prejudice, when I encounter an anthology with seven composers on it, I fear the worst. What I particularly dread is that it will feel like a jukebox or a parade of excerpts, with no one quite getting his due. The Vivaldi Project sidesteps this pitfall quite well, in part because most of these composers do belong together, and most are underrepresented on recordings... The performances are emphatic and at no point did I want to skip ahead. Next time, I would be curious to hear the Vivaldi aspect of this group, apart from the later composers, many of whom owed no overt stylistic debt to the Red Priest. The liner notes introduce each composer and piece, and the images include handwritten scores and a very interesting vintage drawing of Breval playing the cello."

Dutterer, American Record Guide [January/February 2019]

"I had high praise for their first volume of rare early string trios... The group’s exquisite sense of ensemble, vibrant sound, and ardent cantabile represented period instrument playing at its best. All these riches continue in Volume 2... The ensemble is captured in vibrant recorded sound, and this disc once again comes recommended with great enthusiasm. The period instrument world could use more practitioners like The Vivaldi Project."

Michael De Sapio, Fanfare [January/February 2019]

“The Vivaldi Project consists of three superb string players... Their second MSR release proves just as captivating as their first. [In JC Bach’s Trio] Field and Nyquist revel in the first movement’s conversational playfulness... all three musicians point up the rhythmic variety and contrapuntal repartee in the central movement of Campioni’s Sonata. By contrast, the Haydn Divertimento’s aria-like first movement stands out for the players’ strong characterisation of their individual parts: the violinist’s silver-toned decorative writing, the viola player’s resonant pizzicatos and the cellist’s sensitively parsed bass lines. Also note the ensemble’s impeccably calibrated embellishments and balancing of lines in Klausek’s moody Trio, and the perfectly matched declamatory unisons at the Bréval Trio’s outset... their rich yet never excessive timbral ripeness fills out the disc’s concluding Vivaldi Trio to the point where a cembalo basso continuo option becomes moot. Producer and Engineer Richard Price deserves equal credit for the recording’s attractively realistic concert-hall ambience... Highly recommended and, needless to say, I look forward to future volumes in this important series.”

Jed Distler, Gramophone [February 2019]

“I delight over and over again to the various pieces so beautifully performed that they never become boring or stale as chamber music can be when it is pedestrianly performed by the score alone. I cannot in my mind single out better known works by Vivaldi and Haydn, over lesser known ones by Gossec or Klausek, on the album because each of its seven works flow together as a whole... Evident in these collections of musical pieces, musicians at their best bring to our ears the celebration of life a composer intended when he created the music.”

Joel C. Thompson, Cherry Grove Music Review [December 2018]

“the group presents works by such eminent composers of the period as Haydn, Gossec, and J.C. Bach, as well as delightful obscurities from the likes of Johann Ignaz Klausek and Jean-Baptiste Bréval. And the program ends with a trio sonata by Vivaldi. The playing (on period instruments) is delightful and this disc, like [Volume 1], would be a welcome addition to any library collection.”

Rick Anderson, CD HotList for Libraries [December 2018]

[ * * * * ] “[Compared to Volume 1], this CD is equally delightful in its exploration of hitherto almost completely unknown repertoire... the trios heard here are redolent of earlier sensibilities, being light, beautifully balanced, unchallenging to the ear, and exceptionally pleasant... The melodies of all the works flow easily, naturally and pleasantly, the harmonies are carefully managed to intrigue the ear in easy-to-grasp ways, and the interplay among the instruments – especially the violin and viola – is managed with care and sensitivity. The Vivaldi Project, whose three members play with consummate skill throughout this disc, can spin out its rediscovery of trios of this era for quite some time if it so chooses... Additional volumes like this and the first one would be most welcome: there is nothing profound about any of these works, but in their generally simple beauty and largely uncomplicated forms, they offer some very welcome musical respite from the rigors and complexities of everyday life today...”

Mark J. Estren, InfoDad.com [November 2018]

[ * * * * ] “lively... dynamic contrasts... buoyant charm... lush unison... sporty dialogue... suave, strutting phrases... bravura charm... virtuoso status... sonority and resonance... intelligent play...”

Gary Lemco, Audiophile Audition [November 2018]

Volume 2 of Discovering the Classical String Trio is a continuation of The Vivaldi Project’s exploration of the eighteenth-century string trio, of its relationship to the earlier Baroque trio sonata (as exemplified by Vivaldi and contemporaries) and of its role as an important genre in its own right, side-by-side with the emerging string quartet. The string trio, although largely overlooked during the past century, was manifestly popular in its day—at its compositional peak (c. 1760-1770) out-publishing the string quartet by a ratio of more than five to one! These forgotten works, some 2000 string trios by more than 200 composers, reveal not only a wonderful amalgam of instrumental techniques and styles, but also a significant, untold part of chamber music’s history.

Praised for its brilliant and expressive playing, The Vivaldi Project is dedicated to presenting innovative programs of Baroque and Classical string repertoire to both delight and educate audiences. Co-directed by Elizabeth Field and Stephanie Vial, the period instrument ensemble takes its name from the virtuoso violinist and innovative composer Antonio Vivaldi in recognition of his uniquely pivotal position between late Baroque and early Classical composers. The repertoire includes well-known and beloved works as well as others rarely heard. The Vivaldi Project’s educational arm, the Institute for Early Music on Modern Instruments (EMMI), offers professional string players and advanced students the opportunity to study historical performance practices using modern instruments. [ www.thevivaldiproject.org ].

Violinist Elizabeth Field, distinguished for her passionate and stylistic playing on both period and modern instruments, is the founder of The Vivaldi Project. Field is concertmaster of The Bach Choir of Bethlehem and also performs with a wide variety of ensembles throughout the United States, including Opera Lafayette in Washington, D.C. and Sun Valley Summer Symphony. She is an adjunct professor at George Washington University. In addition to period instrument recordings for Dorian, Hungaroton, MSR, and Naxos, Field has performed and recorded regularly with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and Deutsche Grammophon. Field holds a DMA from Cornell University in eighteenth-century performance practice, has held professorships at Sacramento State University and the University of California at Davis, and was a regular guest teacher at the Curtis Institute. Field’s DVD with forte-pianist Malcolm Bilson, Performing the Score, explores eighteenth-century violin and piano repertoire and has been hailed by Emanuel Ax as both “truly inspiring” and “authoritative.”

Violinist Allison Edberg Nyquist, whose playing has been described as impeccable and of unerring intonation and beauty, has performed throughout North America, collaborating with numerous Baroque ensembles, including Chatham Baroque, The Washington Bach Consort, Haymarket Opera Company, Apollo’s Fire, and Ensemble Voltaire. Nyquist is currently concertmaster of the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra and a member of Third Coast Baroque in Chicago. Formerly Artistic Director of Music City Baroque in Nashville and an adjunct professor of Baroque violin at the Blair School of Music, she also taught violin at Lawrence University, Ohio State University and at the Interlochen Arts Camp. Nyquist also served as professor of viola at Indiana State University and DePauw University. Her discography includes recordings for the Centaur, Delos, Eclectra, and MSR labels.

Cellist Stephanie Vial is widely respected, being praised for her technical flair and expressive sense of phrasing. Vial performs regularly in early music ensembles throughout the United States and has given solo and chamber music concerts, lectures, and master classes at numerous universities and institutions, including Boston Conservatory, Curtis Institute of Music, Duke University, University of Virginia, and the Shrine to Music Museum in South Dakota. Vial holds a DMA in eighteenth-century performance practice from Cornell University, where she studied with John Hsu. Her book, The Art of Musical Phrasing in the Eighteenth Century: Punctuating the Classical “Period” [University of Rochester Press], was praised by Malcolm Bilson as “inspired scholarship” and “essential reading.” She has recorded for the Centaur, Dorian, Hungaroton, MSR, and Naxos labels and is currently a lecturer at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.


  JOHANN CHRISTIAN BACH (1735-1782)
SONATA IN G MAJOR, B.37 (c.1755-1762) for two violins and basso
I. Allegrino
II. Tempo di Menuetto

CARLO ANTONIO CAMPIONI (1720-1788)
SONATA IN G MINOR OP.4, NO.2 (1762) for two violins with a thorough bass for harpsichord or violoncello
I. Largo andante
II. Allegro spiritoso
III. Allegro assai

FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN (1732-1809)
DIVERTIMENTO IN D MAJOR, H.V:15 (c.1755-1762) for two violins and basso
I. Adagio
II. Allegro
III. Menuet & Trio

JOHANN IGNAZ KLAUSEK (c.1720- c.1775)
TRIO IN B-FLAT MINOR (1769) a violino primo, violino secondo e basso
I. Allegretto
II. Andante
III. Fuga

FRANÇOIS-JOSEPH GOSSEC (1734-1829)
TRIO IN F MAJOR, OP.9, NO.3 (1766) pour deux violons, basse, et cors ad libitum
I. Allegretto
II. Tempo di Minuetto

JEAN-BAPTISTE SÉBASTIEN BRÉVAL (1753-1823)
TRIO CONCERTANT ET DIOLOGUÉ IN B-FLAT MAJOR, OP.27, NO.4 (c.1786)
a violon, alto et violoncel
I. Allegro
II. Adagio
III. Presto

ANTONIO VIVALDI (1678-1741)
SONATA DA CAMERA A TRE IN E MINOR, OP.1, NO.2 (1705) due violini e violone o cembalo
I. Grave
II. Corrente allegro
III. Giga allegro
IV. Gavotta allegro



MSR Classics