La Serenissima | Vivaldi & Italian Baroque
@laserenissimauk.bsky.social
🔥British ambassadors for Vivaldi & Italian Baroque music
🎵'They really put the rock into baroque' @classicfm
💿8+: OUT NOW 🎻🔥
🎵'They really put the rock into baroque' @classicfm
💿8+: OUT NOW 🎻🔥
Gloucester is starting to feel like home 🥰
Last weekend we were in a packed Gloucester Cathedral for Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers. This weekend we are back for Handel’s Messiah with Gloucester Choral Society.
Last weekend we were in a packed Gloucester Cathedral for Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers. This weekend we are back for Handel’s Messiah with Gloucester Choral Society.
November 24, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Gloucester is starting to feel like home 🥰
Last weekend we were in a packed Gloucester Cathedral for Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers. This weekend we are back for Handel’s Messiah with Gloucester Choral Society.
Last weekend we were in a packed Gloucester Cathedral for Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers. This weekend we are back for Handel’s Messiah with Gloucester Choral Society.
Want to know where Vivaldi’s Op. 8 No. 7 comes from? 🤔
Here’s Adrian with a quick intro 😀
The 1st movement survives in Vivaldi’s own hand in Dresden, inscribed to Pisendel (Vivaldi’s star student & later concertmaster). The rest of the concerto survives only in the 1725 Amsterdam engraved edition.
Here’s Adrian with a quick intro 😀
The 1st movement survives in Vivaldi’s own hand in Dresden, inscribed to Pisendel (Vivaldi’s star student & later concertmaster). The rest of the concerto survives only in the 1725 Amsterdam engraved edition.
November 23, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Want to know where Vivaldi’s Op. 8 No. 7 comes from? 🤔
Here’s Adrian with a quick intro 😀
The 1st movement survives in Vivaldi’s own hand in Dresden, inscribed to Pisendel (Vivaldi’s star student & later concertmaster). The rest of the concerto survives only in the 1725 Amsterdam engraved edition.
Here’s Adrian with a quick intro 😀
The 1st movement survives in Vivaldi’s own hand in Dresden, inscribed to Pisendel (Vivaldi’s star student & later concertmaster). The rest of the concerto survives only in the 1725 Amsterdam engraved edition.
A huge thank you to everyone who has listened to our new album, 8+, this week! We made it into the charts at no. 17 🥳
If you haven't heard it yet.... it's available on all major streaming platforms; or to buy here: https://lnk.to/Vivaldi8Vol2
If you haven't heard it yet.... it's available on all major streaming platforms; or to buy here: https://lnk.to/Vivaldi8Vol2
November 21, 2025 at 6:37 PM
A huge thank you to everyone who has listened to our new album, 8+, this week! We made it into the charts at no. 17 🥳
If you haven't heard it yet.... it's available on all major streaming platforms; or to buy here: https://lnk.to/Vivaldi8Vol2
If you haven't heard it yet.... it's available on all major streaming platforms; or to buy here: https://lnk.to/Vivaldi8Vol2
If Vivaldi writes you a concerto, you must be pretty great 💅
Bearing an inscription to Johann Georg Pisendel, Vivaldi’s Op. 8 No. 7 (RV 242) opens the 2nd half of the Op. 8 set. Pisendel was Vivaldi’s star student & later concertmaster in Dresden, where the 1st movement survives in manuscript.
Bearing an inscription to Johann Georg Pisendel, Vivaldi’s Op. 8 No. 7 (RV 242) opens the 2nd half of the Op. 8 set. Pisendel was Vivaldi’s star student & later concertmaster in Dresden, where the 1st movement survives in manuscript.
November 19, 2025 at 8:19 PM
If Vivaldi writes you a concerto, you must be pretty great 💅
Bearing an inscription to Johann Georg Pisendel, Vivaldi’s Op. 8 No. 7 (RV 242) opens the 2nd half of the Op. 8 set. Pisendel was Vivaldi’s star student & later concertmaster in Dresden, where the 1st movement survives in manuscript.
Bearing an inscription to Johann Georg Pisendel, Vivaldi’s Op. 8 No. 7 (RV 242) opens the 2nd half of the Op. 8 set. Pisendel was Vivaldi’s star student & later concertmaster in Dresden, where the 1st movement survives in manuscript.
What was Venice listening to before Vivaldi came along?
Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers, published in Venice, belongs to the same soundworld that shaped the composers you usually hear from us.
Rich choruses, echo effects and vivid solo writing show the city right on the edge of the Baroque.
Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers, published in Venice, belongs to the same soundworld that shaped the composers you usually hear from us.
Rich choruses, echo effects and vivid solo writing show the city right on the edge of the Baroque.
November 15, 2025 at 6:41 PM
What was Venice listening to before Vivaldi came along?
Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers, published in Venice, belongs to the same soundworld that shaped the composers you usually hear from us.
Rich choruses, echo effects and vivid solo writing show the city right on the edge of the Baroque.
Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers, published in Venice, belongs to the same soundworld that shaped the composers you usually hear from us.
Rich choruses, echo effects and vivid solo writing show the city right on the edge of the Baroque.
If Vivaldi’s greatest hits is the poster on your wall, 8+ is the album you’ve been missing 🫶
Out today, the second half of Vivaldi’s Op. 8 brings you music from the 1725 Amsterdam publication that isn’t The Four Seasons.
Out today, the second half of Vivaldi’s Op. 8 brings you music from the 1725 Amsterdam publication that isn’t The Four Seasons.
November 14, 2025 at 11:06 AM
If Vivaldi’s greatest hits is the poster on your wall, 8+ is the album you’ve been missing 🫶
Out today, the second half of Vivaldi’s Op. 8 brings you music from the 1725 Amsterdam publication that isn’t The Four Seasons.
Out today, the second half of Vivaldi’s Op. 8 brings you music from the 1725 Amsterdam publication that isn’t The Four Seasons.
Hang on… something doesn’t look quite right here… 🤔
Adrian seems to be playing an awful lot of notes, but Vivaldi’s page shows long ones.
💡 It’s shorthand!
Adrian seems to be playing an awful lot of notes, but Vivaldi’s page shows long ones.
💡 It’s shorthand!
November 12, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Hang on… something doesn’t look quite right here… 🤔
Adrian seems to be playing an awful lot of notes, but Vivaldi’s page shows long ones.
💡 It’s shorthand!
Adrian seems to be playing an awful lot of notes, but Vivaldi’s page shows long ones.
💡 It’s shorthand!
…then carries the idea on with different notes.
It’s the lowest note of the pattern — the one he keeps returning to — that represents the bell. Can you hear it tolling through the flurry of fast notes?
The whole album 8+ is out 14 November. You can listen to this movement now: lnk.to/Vivaldi8Vol2
It’s the lowest note of the pattern — the one he keeps returning to — that represents the bell. Can you hear it tolling through the flurry of fast notes?
The whole album 8+ is out 14 November. You can listen to this movement now: lnk.to/Vivaldi8Vol2
November 3, 2025 at 8:57 PM
…then carries the idea on with different notes.
It’s the lowest note of the pattern — the one he keeps returning to — that represents the bell. Can you hear it tolling through the flurry of fast notes?
The whole album 8+ is out 14 November. You can listen to this movement now: lnk.to/Vivaldi8Vol2
It’s the lowest note of the pattern — the one he keeps returning to — that represents the bell. Can you hear it tolling through the flurry of fast notes?
The whole album 8+ is out 14 November. You can listen to this movement now: lnk.to/Vivaldi8Vol2
In the middle of Vivaldi’s third movement, someone else’s third movement makes an appearance…
In the finale of RV 332 (Op. 8 No. 8, G minor) Vivaldi gives a sly nod to Johann Paul von Westhoff and his Imitatione delle campane (“Imitation of bells”). By “sly nod” we mean he lifts about eleven bars…
In the finale of RV 332 (Op. 8 No. 8, G minor) Vivaldi gives a sly nod to Johann Paul von Westhoff and his Imitatione delle campane (“Imitation of bells”). By “sly nod” we mean he lifts about eleven bars…
November 3, 2025 at 8:57 PM
In the middle of Vivaldi’s third movement, someone else’s third movement makes an appearance…
In the finale of RV 332 (Op. 8 No. 8, G minor) Vivaldi gives a sly nod to Johann Paul von Westhoff and his Imitatione delle campane (“Imitation of bells”). By “sly nod” we mean he lifts about eleven bars…
In the finale of RV 332 (Op. 8 No. 8, G minor) Vivaldi gives a sly nod to Johann Paul von Westhoff and his Imitatione delle campane (“Imitation of bells”). By “sly nod” we mean he lifts about eleven bars…
One of the best parts of our concerts (sorry, Ade!) is chatting to our wonderful audience 🥰
As the person often at the CD table, the question I get most is: “Have you got this on CD?”
For those of you who came to our recent concerts with @RaffaelelaRagione and asked when we’d be recording…
As the person often at the CD table, the question I get most is: “Have you got this on CD?”
For those of you who came to our recent concerts with @RaffaelelaRagione and asked when we’d be recording…
October 31, 2025 at 7:40 PM
One of the best parts of our concerts (sorry, Ade!) is chatting to our wonderful audience 🥰
As the person often at the CD table, the question I get most is: “Have you got this on CD?”
For those of you who came to our recent concerts with @RaffaelelaRagione and asked when we’d be recording…
As the person often at the CD table, the question I get most is: “Have you got this on CD?”
For those of you who came to our recent concerts with @RaffaelelaRagione and asked when we’d be recording…
Can you hear the bells? 🔔
Vivaldi loved recycling his own ideas and dressing them up in new concertos, but this time he does something different.
In the finale of RV 332 (Op. 8 No. 8, G minor) he nods to Johann Paul von Westhoff’s Imitatione delle campane (“Imitation of bells”)…
Vivaldi loved recycling his own ideas and dressing them up in new concertos, but this time he does something different.
In the finale of RV 332 (Op. 8 No. 8, G minor) he nods to Johann Paul von Westhoff’s Imitatione delle campane (“Imitation of bells”)…
October 28, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Can you hear the bells? 🔔
Vivaldi loved recycling his own ideas and dressing them up in new concertos, but this time he does something different.
In the finale of RV 332 (Op. 8 No. 8, G minor) he nods to Johann Paul von Westhoff’s Imitatione delle campane (“Imitation of bells”)…
Vivaldi loved recycling his own ideas and dressing them up in new concertos, but this time he does something different.
In the finale of RV 332 (Op. 8 No. 8, G minor) he nods to Johann Paul von Westhoff’s Imitatione delle campane (“Imitation of bells”)…
Mid-chase, the violin solo takes off as if it’s the deer itself, fleeing the rest of the band… 😆
This snippet from Vivaldi’s “La caccia” (Op. 8 No. 10, RV 362: I. Allegro) overlays Vivaldi’s own manuscript from Turin, so you can see how many notes he squeezes into such a small space 🎻
This snippet from Vivaldi’s “La caccia” (Op. 8 No. 10, RV 362: I. Allegro) overlays Vivaldi’s own manuscript from Turin, so you can see how many notes he squeezes into such a small space 🎻
October 28, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Mid-chase, the violin solo takes off as if it’s the deer itself, fleeing the rest of the band… 😆
This snippet from Vivaldi’s “La caccia” (Op. 8 No. 10, RV 362: I. Allegro) overlays Vivaldi’s own manuscript from Turin, so you can see how many notes he squeezes into such a small space 🎻
This snippet from Vivaldi’s “La caccia” (Op. 8 No. 10, RV 362: I. Allegro) overlays Vivaldi’s own manuscript from Turin, so you can see how many notes he squeezes into such a small space 🎻
Drop a 🎺 if you can hear the hunt, or a 🤔 if you think we’re reading too much into it!
Head to your favourite streaming platform to hear the first movement and see if you can spot the different ideas. You’ll have to wait for the full album on 14 November for the moment the deer meets its fate… 🦌
Head to your favourite streaming platform to hear the first movement and see if you can spot the different ideas. You’ll have to wait for the full album on 14 November for the moment the deer meets its fate… 🦌
October 26, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Drop a 🎺 if you can hear the hunt, or a 🤔 if you think we’re reading too much into it!
Head to your favourite streaming platform to hear the first movement and see if you can spot the different ideas. You’ll have to wait for the full album on 14 November for the moment the deer meets its fate… 🦌
Head to your favourite streaming platform to hear the first movement and see if you can spot the different ideas. You’ll have to wait for the full album on 14 November for the moment the deer meets its fate… 🦌
When the whole collection is about “the fusion of harmony and invention,” that choice feels deliberate.
If you know Autumn from The Four Seasons, you might recognise some of these hunting ideas cropping up again. Vivaldi was playing a long game with his musical motifs.
If you know Autumn from The Four Seasons, you might recognise some of these hunting ideas cropping up again. Vivaldi was playing a long game with his musical motifs.
October 26, 2025 at 7:30 PM
When the whole collection is about “the fusion of harmony and invention,” that choice feels deliberate.
If you know Autumn from The Four Seasons, you might recognise some of these hunting ideas cropping up again. Vivaldi was playing a long game with his musical motifs.
If you know Autumn from The Four Seasons, you might recognise some of these hunting ideas cropping up again. Vivaldi was playing a long game with his musical motifs.
Ever wondered what a Baroque hunt sounds like? 🤔
Vivaldi’s La caccia (“The Hunt”) from Op. 8 is full of musical secrets: horn calls, “barking” dogs, fleeing deer, and even the moment the wounded beast falls.
What’s fascinating?
Among concertos 7–12, titles are rare — La caccia stands out.
Vivaldi’s La caccia (“The Hunt”) from Op. 8 is full of musical secrets: horn calls, “barking” dogs, fleeing deer, and even the moment the wounded beast falls.
What’s fascinating?
Among concertos 7–12, titles are rare — La caccia stands out.
October 26, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Ever wondered what a Baroque hunt sounds like? 🤔
Vivaldi’s La caccia (“The Hunt”) from Op. 8 is full of musical secrets: horn calls, “barking” dogs, fleeing deer, and even the moment the wounded beast falls.
What’s fascinating?
Among concertos 7–12, titles are rare — La caccia stands out.
Vivaldi’s La caccia (“The Hunt”) from Op. 8 is full of musical secrets: horn calls, “barking” dogs, fleeing deer, and even the moment the wounded beast falls.
What’s fascinating?
Among concertos 7–12, titles are rare — La caccia stands out.
A huge thank you to everyone who joined us in London and Liverpool this week ❤️
It was wonderful to meet so many of you and hear how much you enjoyed the music — and a bonus that Ade was able to play too 😉
It was wonderful to meet so many of you and hear how much you enjoyed the music — and a bonus that Ade was able to play too 😉
October 26, 2025 at 1:09 PM
A huge thank you to everyone who joined us in London and Liverpool this week ❤️
It was wonderful to meet so many of you and hear how much you enjoyed the music — and a bonus that Ade was able to play too 😉
It was wonderful to meet so many of you and hear how much you enjoyed the music — and a bonus that Ade was able to play too 😉
We had a great time playing at St Martin-In-The-Fields last night! Thanks to all who joined us ❤️
And isn’t it lovely to see Ade with a violin again? He’s still recovering from his shoulder injury, but last night he was able to play in public for the first time since July 🥳🎉
And isn’t it lovely to see Ade with a violin again? He’s still recovering from his shoulder injury, but last night he was able to play in public for the first time since July 🥳🎉
October 24, 2025 at 11:04 AM
We had a great time playing at St Martin-In-The-Fields last night! Thanks to all who joined us ❤️
And isn’t it lovely to see Ade with a violin again? He’s still recovering from his shoulder injury, but last night he was able to play in public for the first time since July 🥳🎉
And isn’t it lovely to see Ade with a violin again? He’s still recovering from his shoulder injury, but last night he was able to play in public for the first time since July 🥳🎉
Here's Ade with bit of background to Vivaldi's Solo Mandolin Concerto, speaking at our recent concert at @turnersims.bsky.social, Southampton.
We're really looking forward to reuniting with Raffaele La Ragione for more mandolin music very soon ⬇️
We're really looking forward to reuniting with Raffaele La Ragione for more mandolin music very soon ⬇️
October 19, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Here's Ade with bit of background to Vivaldi's Solo Mandolin Concerto, speaking at our recent concert at @turnersims.bsky.social, Southampton.
We're really looking forward to reuniting with Raffaele La Ragione for more mandolin music very soon ⬇️
We're really looking forward to reuniting with Raffaele La Ragione for more mandolin music very soon ⬇️
When you think of “the hunt”, what comes to mind?
Horns? Guns? Dogs? The drumming of horses’ hooves? A deer fleeing? 🦌
You should hear all of these in our new single, out today:
Vivaldi's “La caccia”, Op. 8, No. 10, RV 362: I. Allegro.
Horns? Guns? Dogs? The drumming of horses’ hooves? A deer fleeing? 🦌
You should hear all of these in our new single, out today:
Vivaldi's “La caccia”, Op. 8, No. 10, RV 362: I. Allegro.
October 14, 2025 at 2:13 PM
When you think of “the hunt”, what comes to mind?
Horns? Guns? Dogs? The drumming of horses’ hooves? A deer fleeing? 🦌
You should hear all of these in our new single, out today:
Vivaldi's “La caccia”, Op. 8, No. 10, RV 362: I. Allegro.
Horns? Guns? Dogs? The drumming of horses’ hooves? A deer fleeing? 🦌
You should hear all of these in our new single, out today:
Vivaldi's “La caccia”, Op. 8, No. 10, RV 362: I. Allegro.
...it has so many crossings-out and additions that we recorded a second, “souped-up” version which we’re saving for another day. For this single you’re hearing the Op. 8 print version.
Here's the first (rather tidy in comparison to the rest) page from the autograph.
Here's the first (rather tidy in comparison to the rest) page from the autograph.
October 13, 2025 at 6:18 PM
...it has so many crossings-out and additions that we recorded a second, “souped-up” version which we’re saving for another day. For this single you’re hearing the Op. 8 print version.
Here's the first (rather tidy in comparison to the rest) page from the autograph.
Here's the first (rather tidy in comparison to the rest) page from the autograph.
Look at that tidy print 😍
This comes from the 1st printed edition of Vivaldi’s Op. 8, published in Amsterdam, 1725 by Michel-Charles Le Cène as part of Il cimento dell’armonia e dell’invenzione (“The Contest between Harmony & Invention”).
This is the third movement of the eleventh concerto and...
This comes from the 1st printed edition of Vivaldi’s Op. 8, published in Amsterdam, 1725 by Michel-Charles Le Cène as part of Il cimento dell’armonia e dell’invenzione (“The Contest between Harmony & Invention”).
This is the third movement of the eleventh concerto and...
October 13, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Look at that tidy print 😍
This comes from the 1st printed edition of Vivaldi’s Op. 8, published in Amsterdam, 1725 by Michel-Charles Le Cène as part of Il cimento dell’armonia e dell’invenzione (“The Contest between Harmony & Invention”).
This is the third movement of the eleventh concerto and...
This comes from the 1st printed edition of Vivaldi’s Op. 8, published in Amsterdam, 1725 by Michel-Charles Le Cène as part of Il cimento dell’armonia e dell’invenzione (“The Contest between Harmony & Invention”).
This is the third movement of the eleventh concerto and...
One concerto; two quite different versions.
Adrian is back to talk about Vivaldi’s love of recycling: not only reusing great melodies in different works, but sometimes replacing huge chunks of a piece with new ideas.
Adrian is back to talk about Vivaldi’s love of recycling: not only reusing great melodies in different works, but sometimes replacing huge chunks of a piece with new ideas.
October 13, 2025 at 6:10 PM
One concerto; two quite different versions.
Adrian is back to talk about Vivaldi’s love of recycling: not only reusing great melodies in different works, but sometimes replacing huge chunks of a piece with new ideas.
Adrian is back to talk about Vivaldi’s love of recycling: not only reusing great melodies in different works, but sometimes replacing huge chunks of a piece with new ideas.