Vivaldi: La Stravaganza

The new CD also includes a further Vivaldi concerto, RV 544 in F major, entitled `Il Proteo o sia Il mondo al rovescio' (Proteus, or the world upside-down), which refers to shape-shifting sea-god Proteus. The score is ingeniously written so that, with an appropriate shift in pitch, the solo violin and cello could readily swap parts.

Gramophone magazine has praised Europa Galante's ability to "bring something entirely fresh and vital to oft-performed repertoire, illuminating well-trodden paths with affective articulation and eloquently voiced inflexions," while the New York Times has asked: "What accounts for the verve? A sense of spontaneity, enviable technical facility and stylistic polish, to be sure, but also Europa Galante's unfailing musicality, that salient but hard-to-define quality responsible for transforming the adept into the memorable."