Vivaldi
The Great Venetian Mass
Sophie Karthäuser (soprano), Lucile Richardot (mezzo-soprano); Les Arts Florissants/Paul Agnew
Harmonia Mundi HAF8905358 68:09 mins
Among Vivaldi’s various roles at the Pietà for orphaned or abandoned girls was the annual composition of two settings of the Mass; it is something of a surprise, therefore, that not one has come down to us complete. The work presented here, then, is a reconstruction of a hypothetical Mass with Vivaldi’s famous Gloria as its centrepiece.
The choir produces a warm, light, ingenuous sound Flanking the Glorira are the majestic double-choir Kyrie, RV 587 and the rapt Credo, RV 591. For the Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei (no settings of which survive by Vivaldi) movements from his Beatus Vir, RV 597, Dixit Dominus, RV 807 and the Magnificat, RV…