Search - Vivaldi, Corelli, Red Priest :: Four Seasons

Four Fantastic Seasons!

Paul T. Davis | Nashua, NH | 12/03/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I never thought I'd want another "Four Seasons," but this is not only a wonderfully original take on the music but also a virtuoso display for the recorder soloist, Piers Adams. Paying close attention to the poems Vivaldi wrote to go with the music, the small ensemble has more fun with the music than you'd think possible. It may seem a little irreverant at times, but it's always true to the spirit of the piece -- and who needs another sound-alike recording? I can't recommend it highly enough, and the filler -- Corelli's "Christmas Concerto" -- is an enjoyable bonus."

Original, but it feels like novelty for novelty's sake

chefdevergue | Spokane, WA United States | 03/11/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"It says something about "The 4 Seasons," and what a beaten-into-the-ground warhorse it has become, that it takes an interpretation this bizarre to garner any notice for this work these days. Certainly there are more than enough uninspired Vivaldi recordings to go around, and if a moratorium of 50 or so years were declared on any new recordings, I for one would be very happy.



Having said that, I did find Red Priest's interpretation quite intruiging, and it certainly did not bore me. Some people have been appalled by what they consider to be a musical heresy, but personally I believe that a radical performance does less disservice to a composition than a mundane performance. However, I am not quite sure what the performers are hoping to achieve with this. When I hear the laughter of the audience, does this mean that the performers are trying for comic effect? What is the deal? Is this just nothing more than a baroque-era freak show, or are they more serious in their asperations? Certainly their musicianship is not in question, but there are times that they bend the music almost beyond recognition, apparently for no better reason than nobody else has thought before to do it.



If this is Red Priest's only motivation, I suspect that the novelty will soon wear off and the various musicians will sink into obscurity."

Fun, exciting and a must for Vivaldi lovers

S. F. Russell | Pennsylvania | 08/15/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you love Vivaldi's FOUR SEASONS, you will eat this up. The new tempos (which may be more like the original) take this piece from its previous iterations as a formal, Baroquesque piece to a wild, rowdy interpretation of nature's four seasons--I mean, the actual four seasons. Spring has never sounded more like spring (the speeded up tempo reveals myriad birdsongs), etc. Each one of the pieces sounds less like drawing room classical music and more like the beautiful world outside. I have long been a fan of Vivaldi's four seasons, and this recording made me even more of one. I highly recommend it for Vivaldi lovers and anyone else who wants to hear this piece again--for the first time."