Concerto for 2 Cellos in G Minor

At his death in 1741, Vivaldi left behind more than 500 instrumental concertos. So when he breaks with convention as dramatically as he does at the start of the Concerto for Two Cellos—his only double concerto for that instrument—it makes a powerful statement. Instead of waiting politely for the usual orchestral introduction, the two soloists burst straight in, and not with just any theme, but a strikingly angular melody full of leaps and chromaticism. What key are we in? Have we stumbled into a performance halfway through? These are the questions the music invites us to ask. Having wrongfooted his listener, Vivaldi lets his tempestuous theme unwind in music that never quite lets us settle. The two solo cellos duet almost operatically, carving out the spacious melancholy of the slow movement, but repose is short-lived. Jerky syncopated rhythms announce a return to disquiet, now intensified with new urgency in the final “Allegro”.