Mostly known for his violin compositions, Vivaldi paid homage to virtually all musical instruments that existed in Italy's everyday music life of the time. Five bassoon pieces stand out among his numerous concertos for wind instruments.
An unusual combination of bassoon and strings inspired Vivaldi to create amazingly plastic and picturesque works. Composed in virtuoso concerto traditions, they demand supreme mastery from a performer. The finesse and elegance of their melodic patterns rooted in Italian bel canto, their strongly pronounced concerto element with a multitude of solo and tutti, forte and piano shades so typical of Vivaldi won't leave a responsive listener indifferent.
Vivaldi's concertos are performed by Valery Popov, a brilliant virtuoso bassoonist, one of the best representatives of Russian performing school of wind instruments. Coming of a family of musicians, a prize winner of international competitions, a long-standing soloist of the USSR State Academic Symphony Orchestra, and a professor of the Moscow Conservatory, he has made more than a hundred recordings of Baroque, classical and contemporary music. This recording made at the music festival in Polotsk, Belarus, in 1989 also features the Minsk Chamber Orchestra led by Valery Polyansky.
