Antonio Vivaldi

* 1678 Venice
† 1741 Vienna

Antonio Vivaldi, famous violin virtuoso and undoubtedly one of the greatest Baroque composers managed to produce almost five hundred compositions for various instruments. This is indeed a tremendous contribution to the history of the instrumental concerto. However, interesting is that only a small portion of Vivaldi’s concerto output was published during his lifetime. This includes the cycle op. 8 (published 1725), dedicated to Count Václav Morzin of Bohemia. At the very beginning of this collection stands perhaps the best known and best loved of all Vivaldi’s music – The Four Seasons.

František Benda

* 1709 Benátky nad Jizerou
† 1786 Potsdam

František Benda (also known as Franz Benda), violinist and composer, was born in Staré Benátky, Bohemia. From 1718 he was active as a chorister at St. Nicola’s, Prague and later he sang in the Hofkapelle, Dresden. After he returned to Prague he devoted himself to playing violin. In 1733 he was taken into service as a violinist by the Prussian crown prince who later became Frederick the Great. Later, as a Concertmaster, he remained in the service of Frederick until his death. This performnce of Concerto in B is the first recording since the discovery of the manuscript.