Vivaldi Four Seasons

One to aviod is HMV label, I bought several classical CD's to try and get into classical, I find the recordings very poor IMO. They dont justify the music at all.

I would be interested in hearing good recordings though.

I have a Pinchas Zueckermann version with the Saint Paul chamber orchestra. It is about 15 years old and quite a good recording. I don't have any others to compare it with.

I saw him perform it in Atlanta with a local orchestra and it sounded exactly the same. Having a rock background I expected the live performance to have some extras...

Gus

I'm not a huge fan of the work, or of vivaldi in general, but I have Christopher Warren-Green and the London Chamber Orchestra on Virgin (though that may now have been deleted), but it seems fine to me. According to the penguin guide, the one to go for is Loveday, the ASMF and Marriner on Decca.


regards,

Tam

The recommandations, you have got until now, are played on modern instruments.
There are a lot of fine recordings on period instruments too, my own favorites being

Standage/Pinnock on Archive
or
Holloway and co/Hogwood on Decca.

Regards

I'll second Tam - the LCO with Warren-Green (Virgin Classics, CDVB 7243 5 61466 2 4), also played (it's a 2-disc set) are six other concerti with various instruments leading (violins, trumpets, oboe, cello, bassoon), giving you a nice chunk of the Vivster's orchestral composition. It's a good recording as well.

The version on First Impression Music by an obscure (at least to me) Italian group is really quite lovely It is a hybrid SACD, but you can ignore the SACD layer. The sound is first rate, as is the sound on all of First Impression's releases. More mainstream and available at your local CD emporium would be Anne-Sophie Mutter's recording released a couple of years ago. I am a big fan of Anne-Sophie's and the interpretation is quite spirited (so a bit controversial). There aren't a lot of recordings of Tartini's Devil's Trill, and she does a bang up job with it. The DG sound, is a little bright, but Naim kit does a pretty good job of making it bearable. The reviews in the Amazon.com page referenced above will help you in deciding whether or not to give it a try. When I want to kick back with Vivaldi, I will put on either of these, depending on my mood.

Oh, yes, I do have the Loveday/Marriner recording Tam mentioned above on LP and I can very well see why the Penguin guide would list it as definitive.

Norman

The Loveday/Marriner version is available on Decca's mid-price Legends series (486 232-2). It's a wonderfully imaginative, non hackneyed, account of the pieces.

G

OK, since posting above, I decided to drag out the Loveday/Marriner LP and have a listen for the first time in years. While I was at it, I decided to compare with the 4 CDs I have (well, to be honest, only with "Spring" as I had other things to get done last night). So, in roughly reverse order in preference, here is a brief description:

5) The Loveday/Marriner is very, um, Proper. The tempos are moderate and very much in keeping with Marriner and ASMF's recordings down through the years. The copyright on the jacket for this is 1970. Dare I generalize and say that this sounds like an English group interpretating an Italian piece? Loveday collaborates with ASMF more as an equal than as a soloist than in some other interpretations, and the whole comes off as a piece of chamber music (as it should, I think).

4) Itzhak Perlman/London Symphony: This must be out of print as I don't see it on Amazon.com. Perlman definitely treats this as a concerto with a back up orchestral part. His virtuosity is unquestioned, but his use of spicatto is a little more showy than contextual. Buy this one for Perlman in a technical tour de force rather than as a piece of chamber music collaboration.

3) Standage/Pinnock/English Concert: This is played on original instruments and is very interesting from that standpoint. Beautifully recorded and a very tight interpretation. I heard Pinnock and the English Concert live back in the 80s and it is one of the most memorable concerts I have attended.

2) Anne-Sophie Mutter/Trondheim soloists: This is the one she recorded a couple of years ago vs the one she recorded with Von Karajan when she was much younger. As I said above, very spirited interpretation. The Trondheim soloists are a good chamber group, but this again definitely has the soloist spotlighted. Anne-Sophie's tone on this simply gorgeous and like I said above, I am a big fan of hers, particularly her recordings of Beethoven: both concerto and violin/piano sonatas. The photo layout of the album cover definitely cashes in on Anne-Sophie's considerable beauty, but the interpretation definitely is cerebral and mature.

1) SONOTORI DE LA GIOIOSA MARCA, GIULIANO CARMIGNOLA, VIOLIN This is the FIM release I mentioned above and confirmed last night as my favorite. Now, THIS is an Italian group interpreting an Italian work: It is the sonic equivalent of a crisp Italian wine. The most spirited of the interpretations and definitely a chamber music collaboration between Mr Carmignola and the group. The tempos accomodate what's going on in the score: the music ebbs and flows, and a summer storm definitely sounds stormy. There is a definite emotional connection with Vivaldi through this interpretation that leaves you deeply satisfied with the experience. This is definitely not to be treated as background music. It can be ordered through Music Direct or First Impression Music's web site The guys at Music Direct are great, but I would rather my money go directly to the small label directly. Buy it: it shouldn't be missed.

Norman

Thanks everyone
Well as I have a SACD player I'll go for Cosmoliu's recommendation, though I will order from the USA direct as Vivante want £25 !!!
Might try the Mutter one as well to get a different perspective.
I do enjoy the Four Seasons but am a classical novice the only other recordings I have are Gorecki's famous symphany and a Warren green/Virgin record called Power with various stuff on it.

I once had the Telarc Seiji Ozawa/Joseph Silverstein/Boston Symphony Orchestra version on vinyl, and it was glorious.

Four Seasons/Ozawa

Alex,

Enjoy your exploration of Classical music. There have been several threads here lately for newcomers. I grew up with a violin under my chin, so I have a ready made list of favorites from my childhood that I have not strayed far from, except for branching out into Bach's works for keyboard in the last couple of years. Along those lines, I particularly like Angela Hewitt's Goldberg Variations; I think every music library should have at least 2 versions of that, prob to include Glenn Gould's 1981 version for contrast. (Time to duck the incoming slings and arrows!)


Norman

I must be getting older as I/m listening to "Kind Of Blue", 2 years ago I hated jazz.
I list my favourites as Bowie, Ramones, Undertones et all, why am I getting into this classical malarky ?

Haven't met anyone yet who dislikes "Kind of Blue". A chance encounter with the Classic Records 200gm LP a couple of years ago opened up a whole new world of golden era jazz to me. Branching out from Miles I have gotten into Gil Evans, Coltrane, Cannonball Adderly, etc, etc. If you don't yet have Gil Evan's "Waltz for Debbie" you need to get it. This whole music exploration thing is a never-ending delight.

Norman

Second miles davis, and kind of blue in particular (I think I have somewhere around 100 discs by him in my collection...), but I think you have Gil Evans and Bill Evans confused. Gil was an arranger and did some amazing work with miles on orchestral records (especially miles ahead and porgy and bess, but was also instrumental in 'the birth of the cool'). Bill Evans, on the other hand was a piano player on a number of miles' records from the late 50s, he then went on to work (almost entirely in trios, but some interesting records overdubbing himself) until his untimely death in 1980. He wrote waltz for debbie (which, if memory serves is the title of one of the two outstanding live albums he did at the village vanguard in the early 60s).

Of course, just to confuse things further, miles worked with another Bill Evans in the 80s, but he played the sax.


regards,

Tam

Oops! You're so right, Tam. I had Gil on my mind as I had just recently looked at the CD cover for Miles' "Porgy and Bess". Bill Evans is indeed the pianist and "Waltz for Debbie"'s author. Through my current Naim kit, the live night club sounds of soft conversation and clinking glassware are almost spooky in a darkened room.

Norman

The best performance and recording I have ever heard of the four seasons is the Academy of Ancient Music under Christopher Hogwood. Mine is an original LP on L'oiseau-Lyre but it is now available on CD for under a tenner.

The energy and clarity will take your breath away and the use of period instruments only adds to its emotional resonance. When I want to show what a Naim system can do on classical I use it as a demo disk - it's that good!!

Jonathan

The recording by Hogwood was the very one I recommended above. Get it - you shall not regret.

The same Hogwood has made another excellent Vivaldi-recording, which can be aquired on a
double-decca containing opus 3(L´estro armonico) and the six flute-concertos. This is music just as inspired as the four seasons.

If you like fast and punchy versions, you may consider the 3 following records:
1- il giardino armonico, TELDEC (my reference),
2- Biondi, Opus 111,
3- Kennedy, EMI.