V 1: Concerti Per Fagotto

It is almost an understatement to identify Vivaldi as the most significant composer ever of bassoon concertos, since
the competition is so meagre.
Even within Vivaldi's own oeuvre, the thirty-nine bassoon concertos (two of them incomplete) form an impressive
group. The composer seems to have had a particular affinity with deeper instruments (the cello as well as the bassoon),
which brought out especially vividly the melancholy, reflective side of his temperament. Moreover, the bassoon
concertos are all works of Vivaldi's full maturity in fact, mostly of his last period, running from the later
1720s to his death in 1741 and have an incomparable rhythmic variety, boldness of form and attention to detail.
Not only the concertos for solo bassoon and strings but also a huge, diverse collection of works and movements
where Vivaldi employs the bassoon in other contexts (for example, in chamber concertos and concertos with multiple
soloists) show that he was in equal measure familiar with, and partial to, the instrument.