Viva Vivaldi!

March 4 marks Antonio Vivaldi's 326 birthday. Igor Stravinsky once said of Vivaldi as 'a dull fellow who could compose the same form so many times over'. I don't know about that.

Igor's music either makes me listless or puts me to sleep. On the other hand, the "Red Priest" Vivaldi music is fresh, zesty, and full of orchestral color and clarity.

Few years ago when I first heard the Welsh composer Karl Jenkins' Palladio Suite*, my knee-jerk impression was it sounded 'so Vivaldi'. I don't mean to impugn Jenkins. Far from it. It is just that Vivaldi is a classical musician of high order. His music is for all seasons.

* It was Andrea Palladio's architectural style that inspired Jenkins' to write this composition. The first movement of the Palladio Suite was used in a deBeers 'A Diamond is Forever' commercial.