Modo Antiquo – for Vivaldi beyond the Four Seasons

Most people I know say that they love Vivaldi , especially the famous Four Seasons , …..some people even say that they are fed up of Vivaldi because the beautiful music of the Four Seasons has been spoilt  them by association with being kept on hold by Call Centres ….. but nobody I know loves and appreciates Vivaldi with the passion of Federico Maria Sardelli .

Federico Maria Sardelli , who I am honoured to consider as a friend in Florence, is an Italian conductor, Historicist composer, musicologist and flautist.

He and his wife Bettina Hoffmann, founded the baroque orchestra Modo Antiquo in 1984. Through his work he has established a recognition as a notable protagonist in the Vivaldi renaissance, he has conducted recordings of Arsilda, regina di Ponto, Orlando Furioso, Tito Manlio, Motezuma, and L’Atenaide.

In 1998 , with the recording of Concerti per molti Istromenti di Antonio Vivaldi he received the nomination for the Grammy Awards in the category Best small ensemble . Two years later, in 2000, Modo Antiquo receive a second nomination for a Grammy for his recording of the Concerti Grossi Op VI of Arcangelo Corelli , reconstructed for the first time with original wind instruments based on research by Hans Joachim Marx and Franco Piperno . Another marvellous original performance in 2012 was a modern interpretation of Antonio Vivaldi’s Orlando Furioso in 1714 , with another award winning world-premiere recording. by Naïve, with whom Sardelli has an exclusive contract for recording Vivaldi.

He has made more than forty recordings as soloist and conductor, some of them in co-production with the German broadcast company Westdeutscher Rundfunk.

Federico has recently begun a  crowdfunding initiative in order to fund a musical project  that he believes is important and ambitious: the recording of his sacred music for large ensembles.

This project will entail recording three sacred pieces – a Dixit Dominus, a Kyrie and a Credo – all to be performed by Modo Antiquo, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Chorus and three soloists of note.

He hopes that those who love arts and music in general – and baroque music in particular! – could support this project through donation – or even simply alerting your friends and contacts of this project so this is what I am doing!

Crowdfunding thrives on the basis of such sharing and Federico has prepared some small tokens of gratitude to be awarded in proportion to the donations made!

These range from a special autographed postcard up to an original etching – yes Federico is an artist and satirical writer as well as a Musician – the multi-tasking Renaissance man lives and is continuing to thrive in Florence!

Very excitingly Donors will also have the opportunity to be among the audience during recording sessions –  I cant wait!

Donating is simple: just click here and follow the instructions:

http://www.gofundme.com/sacredmusic