Vivaldi and Venice

La Serenissima, the “most serene republic of Venice”, is also the name of one of Britain’s best-loved chamber orchestras. Specialising in the music of Vivaldi and his contemporaries, expect a performance that’s “nothing short of magnificent” (Gramophone).

La Serenissima celebrated 30 years of “whipping up a storm with Vivaldi” (The Telegraph) during 2024-25 with a residency in London’s iconic Wigmore Hall. Baroque brilliance returns to Cambridge as award-winning ensemble La Serenissima light up the stage. They present a rare and thrilling programme of Vivaldi’s music for plucked and bowed strings. Joining them is Italian mandolin virtuoso Raffaele La Ragione.

UPDATE: Over the summer, La Serenissima’s founder, violinist and director, Adrian Chandler, suffered a walking accident which caused rupture to two of the tendons in his right shoulder. La Serenissima regrets that consequently Adrian will be unable to play his violin in October due to the recovery time needed for the surgery to his shoulder to heal. La Serenissima is making unavoidable adjustments to the programmed violin concertos this autumn as a result. Adrian will direct the group in all our autumn concerts, in spite of being unable to play himself. We thank our audiences for their understanding.

Programme:
Giuseppe Antonio Brescianello (c. 1690–1758) Ouverture-Suite for strings & continuo in F
Anon. Canzone da Battello for mandolin & archlute
Anon. Canzone da Battello for 2 mandolins & continuo
Anon. C18. arr. Adrian Chandler Concerto for mandolin, strings & continuo in G
Vivaldi Concerto for mandolin, strings & continuo in C major
Diogenio Bigaglia (c. 1676–1745) Concerto for mandolin, strings & continuo in G
Vivaldi Sinfonia for strings & continuo in G major
Vivaldi Concerto for 2 mandolins, strings & continuo in G major

Performers:
Raffaele La Ragione mandolin
Lynda Sayce mandolin, archlute
La Serenissima
Adrian Chandler director