Martin Fröst (clarinet), Concerto Köln

Vivaldi: Air for Chalumeau "La Tortora"
Vivaldi: Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra No. 1 in B-Flat Major "Sant' Angelo"
Vivaldi: Sinfonia for Strings and Basso Continuo in C Major (From "Il Giustino RV 717")
Vivaldi: Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra No. 2 in D Minor "La Fenice"
Vivaldi: Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra No. 3 in F Major "Il Mezzetino"

Martin Fröst is an internationally renowned clarinettist and conductor

‘Vivaldi’ is a baroque adventure based on the question: What might Vivaldi have composed for the clarinet if it had been more fully developed?

For this recording three clarinet concertos have been newly composed, made up of music drawn from Vivaldi’s most beautiful opera and oratorio arias

Performed on the mellow, songlike chalumeau – the predecessor of the modern clarinet – and the brilliant, virtuosic clarinet of today, Martin Fröst and Concerto Köln create a won- derful symbiosis between the old and the new

The album is complemented with two popular sinfonias by A. Vivaldi and one new air com- posed for chalumeau

‘Vivaldi’ was recorded with Grammy award winning baroque ensemble Concerto Köln

"Fröst is an outstanding musician and every operatic roulade and embellishment is expertly turned with the precision of a master craftsman...Do they convince as concertos? Not especially, but I don’t think that’s the point...What make these enjoyable works in their own right are the florid writing and operatic drama of the outer movements and the incredible tenderness that Vivaldi lavished on some of his slow arias." - Gramophone Magazine, August 2020.