Hyperion Records

On two separate occasions, Vivaldi returned to his A major setting of the Laudate pueri (RV602), adapting and updating it for new purposes. RV602a is the earlier adaptation, probably dating from the late 1720s. Since he no longer cultivated the faux-naïf style of the previous decade, Vivaldi replaced the sixth movement (‘Ut collocet eum’), by a rather conventional aria in G major for second (in place of first) soprano and strings. He restored equality between the soloists by reassigning the seventh movement (‘Gloria Patri’) to the first soprano, at the same time replacing the oboe by the newly fashionable flute. The two versions are not very different, but the obbligato part is tailored very sensitively to the new instrument, which results in a number of interesting changes. This second version makes a delightful stocking-filler.

from notes by Michael Talbot © 2003