VIVALDI: Flute Concertos, Vol. 2 (Bela Drahos/ Nicolaus Esterhazy Sinfonia) (Naxos: 8.553101)

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Antonio Vivaldi was the most important Italian composer of the 18th century, his name having entered today's world of 'pop' classics with The Four Seasons. In 1703 he began teaching music at an orphanage at the Piet\, established to take care of illegitimate and abandoned girls. He was so successful that he built an orchestra of outstanding quality, famous throughout Europe. It also provided Vivaldi with the possibility of composing an immense amount of music for his students to perform. Although his series of Flute Concertos were not published until 1728, many years after his period at the girls school, their style and content was derived from the vivacious string concertos he wrote while at the Piet".