VERO BEACH — A spectacular Candlelight concert featuring the music of Antonio Vivaldi was held March 20, at the Community Church of Vero Beach, pairing one of classical music’s most recognizable works with a piece known for its virtuosity and dramatic intensity.
The program included Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” and Sonata No. 12 in D minor, RV 63, “La Follia,” performed in arrangements adapted for string quartet. The repertoire placed Vivaldi’s iconic set of violin concertos alongside a work that showed a different side of the composer, shifting from familiar imagery and lyricism to heightened drive and edge.
The concert was performed by the Listeso String Quartet: Annabelle Gardiner, first violin; Olga Ferroni, second violin; Shelley B. Mathews, viola; and Ronald Gardiner, cello. In “The Four Seasons,” the first violin, noted by Gardner, “carried the solo passages across all four concertos — 12 movements of solo writing — a workload the musicians said required stamina and regular practice.” Gardiner said the part amounted to a massive undertaking even for performers who had played the music multiple times before…