Concerto per Violino, Archi e BC, RV 259 Op. VI/2

Casa Ricordi Milano in partnership with Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venezia (Istituto Antonio Vivaldi). Critical edition by Alessandro Borin. The six Concerts op. VI for violin, strings and continuo by Antonio Vivaldi were published in Amsterdam by Roger in 1719. Although the contribution of Vivaldi was probably modest – even to assume that the collection was published without the composer’s assistance and perhaps even his agreement - these six compositions mark a decisive step towards the definition of the classic Vivaldi Concerto, a change evident both from the systematic adoption of the three-movement plan and from the absence of any supplementary solo parts beyond the principalviolin.

This critical edition is based on the first edition of Opus VI and its reprints, but takes also into consideration all the sources of single concertos printed into anthologies or transmitted in manuscript form (Wiesentheid and Dresden). The information gathered through the comparative analysis of the manuscript and the printed traditions of Vivaldi’s Opus 6 has permitted us to reconstruct the links among the sources, to clarify some problematic editorial decisions and formulate new hypotheses on the genesis and the intrinsic nature of the collection as a whole.