Vivaldi-dedicated British group

La Serenissima, enthusiasts of the Red Priest, play six concertos (including ‘La Pastorella’) with beauty and power

Composer: Vivaldi
Repertoire: in Arcadia
Artists: La Serenissima: Adrian Chandler (violin/director), Mhairi Lawson (soprano)
Rating: 3/5
Genre: Opera
Label: Avie AV0031

Although soprano Mhairi Lawson sings of ardour with slightly too little of it, she makes moods of the three movements of the motet as if they were operatic scenes. Chandler, who has devoted his career to unearthing the Red Priest’s stage works, suggests, through his expressive violin, a melancholy undercurrent to the surface exub-erance of the concertos.