Ophélie Gaillard, Zoltan Darago, Zachary Wilder, Ensemble Pulcinella
AP439 - 1CD - 81' - Oct 9, 2026
In eighteenth-century Venice, the festivities never cease: Carnival could last for up to eight months of the year. In the Serenissima, everything becomes mask, metamorphosis and illusion. Sottosopra! – “upside down” — conjures up the topsy-turvy world of Baroque Venice: a city where masks erased hierarchies, where Carnival suspended the rules, and where music became at once mirror and vertigo.
Centred on Ophélie Gaillard’s cello and the voices of countertenor Zoltan Darago and tenor Zachary Wilder, this programme brings together major pages from Vivaldi’s output, but above all a wealth of delightful rarities reflecting a spirit of discovery, effervescence and celebration. The album is completed by a previously unrecorded cantata by Giovanni Finazzi, a castrato and composer who embodies the art of disguise in Baroque Venice.
1. Balli – Contradanza* (anonymous) bass by Olivier Fourés 0’38
Antonio Vivaldi
Cello Concerto in A Minor RV 418
2. I. Allegro 3’57
3. II. [Largo] 2’37
4. III. Allegro 3’06
5. Balli – Minuetto alla Scoscese* (anonymous) bass by Olivier Fourés 1’02
Antonio Vivaldi
6. Se nemico tu sei* (La Candace o Siano li Veri Amici, RV 704) 3’07
Concerto a 4 in G Minor RV 152
7. I. Allegro molto 1’39
8. II. Andante molto 1’17
9. III. Allegro molto 1’53
10. Il destin che mi sovrasta (Orlando finto pazzo, RV 727) 3’30
11. Balli – Guerra d’amore* (anonymous) bass by Olivier Fourés 1’01
12. Aria veneziana – ‘Cos’è ’sta cosa?’* (anonymous) 1’56
Antonio Vivaldi
Cello Concerto in D Minor RV 407
13. I. Allegro 3’12
14. II. Largho 3’20
15. III. Allegro 2’57
16. Balli – Sermante* (anonymous) bass by Olivier Fourés 1’54
17. Balli – Bertagna* (anonymous) bass by Olivier Fourés 1’31
Antonio Vivaldi
Concerto for Violin and Cello in A Major RV 546
18. I. Allegro 3’07
19. II. Andante 2’18
20. III. Allegro 3’07
21. Largo (Cello Concerto in E-Flat Major, RV 408) 3’48
22. Se cresce un torrente (Orlando, RV 728) 2’28
23. Balli – La Pulcinella* (anonymous) bass by Olivier Fourés 0’45
24. Aria veneziana – ‘Con Checca, Betta, e Catte’* (anonymous) 1’17
Antonio Vivaldi
Concerto a 4 in B-Flat Major ‘Conca’ RV 163
25. [Allegro] – Allegro molto 2’09
26. Andante 0’27
27. Allegro 1’07
Filippo Finazzi
Cantata No. 2*
28. I. Aria. Larghetto ‘Pianger vidi appreso a’un fonte’ 6’37
29. II. Recitativo ‘Pria si sciolse’in querele’ 1’11
30. III. Aria Allegro ‘Guarda l’affano mio’ 5’44
Antonio Vivaldi
31. Allegro* (Concerto for Violin and Organ in C Major, RV 808) 3’53
reconstructed by Olivier Fourés
32. Aria veneziana – ‘Si la gondola’* (anonymous) 5’27
* world premiere recordings
See also
