It began as a modest idea—an album of Baroque concertos, nothing more. Today, three years later, it has become one of the most ambitious recording projects a bassoonist could undertake: a complete recording of all of Antonio Vivaldi’s bassoon concertos. With this third album, Sophie Dervaux, principal bassoonist of the Vienna Philharmonic, together with the La Folia Baroque Orchestra, has completed half of this journey. It is an interim milestone full of energy—and full of discoveries.
No other composer has entrusted the bassoon with as much as Vivaldi. The Venetian composer left behind 37 completed solo concertos, including what is believed to be the very first bassoon concerto ever written. Composed for the exceptionally accomplished female musicians of the Ospedale della Pietà, these works remain a challenge to this day—both technically and musically. That is precisely what appeals to Sophie Dervaux. “The more I delve into this music, the more I discover,” she says. “I keep recognizing material that Vivaldi reused here and there, and at the same time, I notice distinctive features or unusual ideas all the more clearly.”
It is this diversity that keeps the project alive for the performer. “This diversity really does me good; it’s like breathing fresh air,” she says. “Vivaldi wrote these concertos relatively quickly; he didn’t spend months mulling over a few notes. You can tell. It feels good to play this spontaneous, flowing music.” 285 years after Vivaldi’s death, Sophie Dervaux is exploring a repertoire that is at once old and new, familiar and unfamiliar—and one that showcases her instrument in its full range.
