I believe that Vivaldi was very well known during his lifetime and enjoyed popularity for his musical innovations across Europe; witness commissions from various nobility, his eminence in the Venetian opera in the early 18th century, and his notorious nickname, The Red Priest. While he wasn't as popular as many of his contemporaries, notably Scarlatti, his long, profuse career and almost continuous patronage would give testament to some renown. Nobles didn't commission works nor did patrons attend operas of a composer whose work wasn't highly regarded.

The violin is heartbreakingly beautiful.

I believe that Vivaldi was very well known during his lifetime and enjoyed popularity for his musical innovations across Europe; witness commissions from various nobility, his eminence in the Venetian opera in the early 18th century, and his notorious nickname, The Red Priest. While he wasn't as popular as many of his contemporaries, notably Scarlatti, his long, profuse career and almost continuous patronage would give testament to some renown. Nobles didn't commission works nor did patrons attend operas of a composer whose work wasn't highly regarded.

I watch Classical on my cable service at home a lot. You know, the listening channels.  I once saw a very interesting factoid that Vivaldi was not well known when he was alive.  It goes to show, some band none of us may never have even heard of yet could be the toast of the town in 200 years. 

I could just fancy a pizza quattro stagioni right now :o)

Love this piece, but this rendition feels a bit rushed to me.  He's tripping through the middle notes without much feeling sometimes, and and doesn't hold the pauses.  I know these scores are interpreted, so he may not be wrong.  Still feels rushed to me, though.

Odd, I found it rather cautious and hesitant in spots. 

An unusual approach to the piece but not, I think, an untenable one.

Love this piece, but this rendition feels a bit rushed to me.  He's tripping through the middle notes without much feeling sometimes, and and doesn't hold the pauses.  I know these scores are interpreted, so he may not be wrong.  Still feels rushed to me, though.

as showed in the Avg. Rating, most RP listeners prefer classical music to all the other stuff here, so bill, do you know what to do with that ;-)

Sound can be plotted on a curve with frequency on one axis and the degree to which one finds that sound annoying on the other axis - the curve is called the Line of Constant Annoyance. Think about how annoying the sound of a baby crying is - evolved deliberately to attract the mother's attention. For me, violins fall at the peak of that Line of Constant Annoyance. Violins are not too far off in frequency from a wailing baby...

Not sure bout Nige though.