The release of more than 100 CDs, which began in 2000, will extend over the next ten years.ALTHOUGH Antonio Vivaldi’s name is synonymous with seaswept Venice, an accident of history has deposited the greatest collection of his music here, by the foothills of the Alps.

Much of this music has not been heard since the 18th century. Incredibly, this is the private library of scores Vivaldi had at home at the time of his death in Vienna in 1741 and includes his extant operas, hundreds of concertos, sacred compositions and cantatas.

Its principal objective is to record the massive collection of Vivaldi autograph manuscripts preserved today in the Biblioteca Nazionale in Turin, some 450 works. The Vivaldi Edition, a recording venture conceived by the Italian musicologist Alberto Basso and the independent label Naïve, is one of the most ambitious recording projects of the twentyfirst century. Here, from the Naïve – Maison de Artiste website, is more about The Vivaldi Edition: The soloists (especially French soprano diva Sandrine Piau) are superb and the instrumentation is not only historic but wonderfully balanced and blended to perfection with the voices. This is wonderfully sophisticated music brilliantly recorded by sensitive artists who have brought all their talents to bear on every detail. Their work to date is nothing short of exquisite and this CD is a perfect example. His operas were not as well known but, a marvelous ten year endeavor, The Vivaldi Edition, by the French recording label Naïve, has embarked upon the noble (if daunting) mission to record Vivaldi’s entire catalog and remedy this oversight. Vivaldi did so much more than write The Four Seasons. You might assume, from this exquisite cover, that the music inside the package was something special. Emblematic cover for the Vivaldi opera masterpiece La Fida Ninfa (The Faithful Nymph)

Vivaldi edition operas