Flats and Sharps Project

Yes to Vivaldi!

Yes to Vivaldi! Especially this Concerto RV 498 in A minor, which gives me two very good reasons to stay and listen.

First, that bassoon. What a sound! If this instrument were a man, I suspect he'd have broad shoulders, a deep voice, and absolutely no interest in discussing his feelings. He'd just walk into the room, and everybody would notice. No need to show off, no need to raise his voice, just that bassoon doing what it does best.

The melody sounds almost as if it belongs in a contemporary pop song. Give those lines to Usher or Billy Ocean, add a beat, put a microphone in front of the right singer, and I can imagine a hit on the charts. The melody is tender, catchy, and has that knack for staying in my head long after the music stops. Vivaldi really knew how to write a hook, and he didn't need an electric guitar or a recording studio to prove it.

I love this little collision of sounds and eras, the bassoon with its manly presence and a melody that could have a pop audience swaying along. Baroque music doesn't have to sit in a museum wearing a powdered wig, and I for sure don't need to dress up to enjoy it, even though, I think it could be fun.

So, yes to Vivaldi. Yes to the bassoon, yes to the melody, and yes to the possibility that, had Usher or Billy Ocean been born a few centuries earlier, they might have had some competition.