Graupner / Vivaldi - Concerti for Viola D'Amore

The Vivaldi-Graupner Project was motivated by the desire to concretely document the ongoing musical connections between Poland and New Zealand which have developed in recent years. In particular the Project focuses on the collaborations between Donald Maurice and Marcin Murawski which originated in 2003 when they met at the International Viola Congress in Kronberg. After their 2013 performance in Warsaw, a plan was hatched to produce a CD of baroque works featuring them as soloists on viola d'amore and viola with a Polish based orchestra in order to showcase the viola d'amore as an instrument and a few of the lesser known works.

The two Vivaldi guitar were included as they feature the New Zealand guitarist Jane Curry, who was part of a tour in Poland in June 2016 by Archi d'Amore Zelanda, and these recordings illustrate the continually growing ties between the two countries.

The recordings of the Graupner concertos are particularly significant as one has never previously been recorded and the other is only available as a rare LP format. As such, these works have remained relatively obscure until now. It is hoped that this project will result in their musical value and significance becoming widely recognised and that they enter into the standard repertoire for the rare combination of two solo violas.