Blazing fiddles, Venetian elegance and off-the-scale energy: prepare for a sunburst of inspiration, as Adrian Chandler and La Serenissima toast the 300th birthday of Vivaldi’s La Cetra.

Genius loves flattery. In 1727, when Vivaldi dedicated his Concertos Op. 9 to the Emperor Charles VI, he called them La Cetra (The Lyre) – a reference to the instrument played by Apollo, God of sunlight and music. Well, that’s one way to get a donor on side. What’s beyond question is that 300 years later, these dazzling violin concertos sing, dance and positively glitter with Venetian sunlight. It’s another barnstorming, life-affirming celebration of Baroque brilliance from Adrian Chandler and the virtuoso players of La Serenissima – the group that has been ‘whipping up a storm with Vivaldi’ (The Telegraph) since 1994.

Programme:
Vivaldi
Violin Concertos from La Cetra, Op. 9:
Concerto No. 1 in C, RV 181a
Concerto No. 2 in A, RV 345
Concerto No. 5 in A minor, RV 358
From unpublished manuscripts:
Concerto No. 2 in C, RV 189
Concerto No. 6 for two violins in B flat, RV 526
Concerto for Strings & Continuo in G minor, RV 153
Concerto for Strings & Continuo in B flat, RV 165

Performers:
La Serenissima
Adrian Chandler violin, director