Flautissimo

In a programme dedicated to recorder concertos, the name of Antonio Vivaldi is an indispensable reference: the author of an impressive number of concertos, well beyond the famous Four Seasons, Vivaldi shaped a language that profoundly marked 18th-century Europe. Alongside him, composers such as Georg Philipp Telemann, Johann Friedrich Fasch and Giovanni Battista Sammartini were able to offer original and refined interpretations of the concerto form, in an extraordinary variety of styles and formal solutions. It is perhaps surprising that the recorder, often considered an instrument with a limited repertoire, should have been the vehicle for such a rich and international production, capable of reflecting different national identities and, at the same time, an authentically European spirit, even verging on the galant style. This programme thus highlights, together, the concerto as a musical form and the recorder as solo instrument, revealing its expressive breadth and vitality. At the heart of this project is also the theme of cultural exchange between Italy and the Netherlands: many of Vivaldi's works were published in Amsterdam at the beginning of the 18th century by the famous publisher Estienne Roger, spreading rapidly throughout Europe and profoundly influencing the musical taste of the time. More than three hundred years later, this ideal dialogue is renewed in the encounter between the flutist Teun Wisse and the Ensemble Locatelli, an artistic partnership born of a shared passion for this repertoire and matured through concerts in various European countries, culminating in a programme designed to celebrate Vivaldi and the immediate and communicative pleasure of a music that, then as now, thrives on energy, exchange and shared joy.