Vivaldi: La Venezia di Anna Maria Midori Seiler & Concerto Köln

• Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741): Concerto in C Minor, RV 120:
• 1 Concerto in C Minor, RV 120: I. Allegro non Molto 01:58
• 2 Concerto in C Minor, RV 120: II. Largo 02:04
• 3 Concerto in C Minor, RV 120: III. Allegro 02:08
• Violin Concerto per Anna Maria in E-Flat Major, RV 260:
• 4 Violin Concerto per Anna Maria in E-Flat Major, RV 260: I. Allegro 04:09
• 5 Violin Concerto per Anna Maria in E-Flat Major, RV 260: II. Adagio 03:38
• 6 Violin Concerto per Anna Maria in E-Flat Major, RV 260: III. Allegro 03:47
• Baldasare Galuppi (1706-1785): Concerto a Quattro No. 1 in G Minor:
• 7 Concerto a Quattro No. 1 in G Minor: I. Grave e Adagio 02:51
• 8 Concerto a Quattro No. 1 in G Minor: II. Spiritoso 03:47
• 9 Concerto a Quattro No. 1 in G Minor: III. Allegro 04:16
• Antonio Vivaldi: Violin Concerto per Anna Maria in G Major, RV 308:
• 10 Violin Concerto per Anna Maria in G Major, RV 308: I. Allegro 04:33
• 11 Violin Concerto per Anna Maria in G Major, RV 308: II. Largo Cantabile 04:08
• 12 Violin Concerto per Anna Maria in G Major, RV 308: III. Allegro 04:18
• Concerto in A Major, RV 158:
• 13 Concerto in A Major, RV 158: I. Allegro Molto 02:28
• 14 Concerto in A Major, RV 158: II. Andante Molto 01:49
• 15 Concerto in A Major, RV 158: III. Allegro 02:59
• Violin Concerto per Anna Maria in E Major, RV 270a:
• 16 Violin Concerto per Anna Maria in E Major, RV 270a: I. Allegro 04:22
• 17 Violin Concerto per Anna Maria in E Major, RV 270a: II. Andante 01:50
• 18 Violin Concerto per Anna Maria in E Major, RV 270a: III. Allegro 02:04
• Sinfonia in F Major, RV 140:
• 19 Sinfonia in F Major, RV 140: I. Allegro 01:43
• 20 Sinfonia in F Major, RV 140: II. Andante 02:14
• 21 Sinfonia in F Major, RV 140: III. Allegro 01:50
• Tomaso Albinoni (1671-1751): Concerto a Cinque in B-Flat Major, Op. 10 No. 1:
• 22 Concerto a Cinque in B-Flat Major, Op. 10 No. 1: I. Allegro 01:54
• 23 Concerto a Cinque in B-Flat Major, Op. 10 No. 1: II. Adagio 02:39
• 24 Concerto a Cinque in B-Flat Major, Op. 10 No. 1: III. Allegro 02:12
• Antonio Vivaldi: Violin Concerto per Anna Maria in D Minor, RV 248:
• 25 Violin Concerto per Anna Maria in D Minor, RV 248: I. Allegro 05:17
• 26 Violin Concerto per Anna Maria in D Minor, RV 248: II. Largo - Presto - Adagio - Presto - Adagio 03:43
• 27 Violin Concerto per Anna Maria in D Minor, RV 248: III. Allegro má non Molto 03:44
• Total Runtime 01:22:25

Info for Vivaldi: La Venezia di Anna Maria

Her life reads like the classic Baroque success story: brought up motherless in a Venetian orphanage, maturing into an "unparalleled violin virtuosa", treated as an equal by Antonio Vivaldi: Anna Maria dal Violin. Midori Seiler and Concerto Köln depict the life of this exceptional woman in "La Venezia di Anna Maria".

All her life long, Anna Maria (born 1696, died 1782) lived and worked in the Ospedale della Pietà. The Venetian orphanage for girls did more than just offer a home and a refuge to girls abandoned by their mothers. It was a school, a musical conservatory and a tourist attraction at the same time, a flourishing part of the city-state’s economy in which Anna Maria rapidly rose to stardom. Defying conventional expectations, the orphanage provided the springboard and proved the perfect setting for a career otherwise denied a female orphan in 18th-century Italy.

As maestro di concerto of the Ospedale, Antonio Vivaldi took Anna Maria under his wing. Starting out as her mentor and teacher, he eventually wrote over two dozen Concerti per Anna Maria. She for her part brilliantly mastered the violin and a host of other instruments, and was praised as the "veritable embodiment of all that is good and beautiful", as a creature "ascending into Paradise". Before long everyone was demanding to hear her and it is largely thanks to her that Vivaldi's instrumental concertos blossomed as they did. Baroque specialist Midori Seiler and her congenial partner Concerto Köln offer a virtuoso portrayal of this artistic teamwork between Anna Maria and Vivaldi. Anna Maria noted in her "performance book" a large number of the concertos she played in the Chiesa dell'Ospedale. They have luckily survived and so these 160 sheets of music bear her handwriting in more senses than one. We see not only the notes as she transcribed them, but her own ornaments. And they shed light on how she and her contemporaries played the violin, opening a musical door from the present day into the Venice of nearly three centuries ago.

This album is the record of a fruitful collaboration: Antonio Vivaldi and Anna Maria – Midori Seiler and Concerto Köln – Midori Seiler and Anna Maria. As an equally virtuosic female violinist, Midori Seiler is the ideal candidate to challenge and emulate her Baroque predecessor. As a member of Berlin’s Akademie für Alte Musik, Seiler was a part of the ensemble’s international breakthrough, from 2005 to 2014 directing from the leader's desk. After a period as Professor at the Salzburg Mozarteum University she returned to Germany in 2017 as Professor at the Franz Liszt College of Music in Weimar. Holder of the Saxon Mozart Prize, she has enjoyed a long partnership with Concerto Köln. The orchestra has been one of the leading ensembles in the field of historical performance practice for more than 30 years, and as EU Cultural Ambassador 2012 is one of North Rhine-Westphalia’s claims to musical fame.

Four of the Concerti per Anna Maria have been selected for this album, together with one concerto each by Vivaldi's contemporaries Galuppi and Albinoni. On "La Venezia di Anna Maria", exceptional readings by Midori Seiler and Concerto Köln shed unique light on Venice as a flourishing centre of the arts at the height of its musical prowess.

Midori Seiler, violin
Concerto Köln

Midori Seiler
Bavarian-German/Japanese daughter of two pianists, grew up in Salzburg, Austria where she started her musical education at the Mozarteum. Her further studies took her to Basel, London and Berlin. She was mentored by musical celebrities of the most different backgrounds including the 'modern' violinists Helmut Zehetmair, Sandor Végh, Adelina Oprean, David Takeno and Eberhard Feltz as well as the two Ancient Music specialists Stephan Mai and Thomas Hengelbrock.

As a member of the ensemble Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin, Midori played an important role in the international breakthrough of this group. Playing also from the first desk, she participated in numerous recording projects. One particularly outstanding collaboration with dancer and choreographer Juan Cruz de Garaio Esnaola is the now globally applauded recording of Vivaldi's Four Seasons. This production, celebrated on stages throughout Europe, was published as a live recording on DVD and CD.

Since 2001, Midori is concert master of the orchestra Anima Eterna Brugge, which specializes in orchestral repertoire of the Classical, Romantic and Early 20th century eras.

Her discography including some prizewinning CDs is impressive, comprising the violin concerti of Mozart, Rimskij-Korsakoff's 'Sheherezade' as well as her own reconstruction of the lost violin concerto BWV 1052. Midori also released the Partitas for Violin Solo by Bach, the complete Sonatas for Piano and Violin by Beethoven, and the violin concerti by Haydn. A new CD of chamber music with Jos van Immerseel will be released in 2015.

Midori is rated one of very few specialists of the Historical Performance Practice who feels at home in various epochs; wether as a long-standing member of instrumental consort 'Concerto Vocale' wth Réné Jacobs performing in numerous productions of Early Baroque operas, interpreting the solo works of Bach at international festivals or being on well known chamber music stages with her duo partner Jos van Immerseel for the Classical repertoire.

Midori Seiler's musical passion ranges from performing Baroque violin concertos, as recently heard in a concert at the Bach Festival Leipzig with Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, to playing the great violin concerti by Mendelssohn or Beethoven in collaboration with authentic orchestras such as Anima Eterna. Much in demand also as a leader of modern orchestras, Midori was a guest leader at the Budapest Festival Orchestra and at the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen.

As an artist enthusiastic about education she has been leading the Schwetzinger Court Academy since 2013 with cellist Jaap ter Linden, teaching the music of the Southwesterm courts of the 18th century to the musicians of tomorrow. She has given Master classes in Brugge, Antwerp, Weimar and Stuttgart. From 2010 to 2013, she was professor for Baroque violin and -viola at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt in Weimar. Starting October 2014, Midori Seiler was appointed professor for Baroque violin and -viola at the University Mozarteum Salzburg.

Booklet for Vivaldi: La Venezia di Anna Maria