Antonio Vivaldi's Le Quattro Stagioni is one of the most beloved works in Baroque music, and even the most casual listener can recognize certain passages of Spring or Winter from frequent use in television commercials and films. Yet if these concertos have grown a little too familiar to experienced classical fans, Max Richter has disassembled them and fashioned a new composition from the deconstructed pieces. Using post-minimalist procedures to extract fertile fragments and reshape the materials into new music, Richter has created an album that speaks to a generation familiar with remixes, sampling, and sound collages, though his method transcends the manipulation of prerecorded music. Richter has actually rescored the Four Seasons and given the movements of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter thorough makeovers that vary substantially from the originals. The new material is suggestive of a dream state, where drifting phrases and recombined textures blur into walls of sound, only to re-emerge with stark clarity and poignant immediacy. Violinist Daniel Hope is the brilliant soloist in these freshly elaborated pieces, and the Konzerthaus Kammerorchester Berlin is conducted with control and assurance by André de Ridder, so Richter's carefully calculated effects are handled with precision and subtlety. Deutsche Grammophon's stellar reproduction captures the music with great depth, breadth, and spaciousness, so everything Richter and de Ridder intended to be heard comes across.© Blair Sanderson /TiVo

Max Richter's 2012 Recomposed album was an enormous success, topping charts in many countries (not just the usual classical-oriented ones) and making its way onto numerous soundtracks, including that for the television series Bridgerton. For those rare souls who haven't encountered it, it was a sort of contemporary remake of Vivaldi's Four Seasons violin concertos, using the originals as thematic source material to a greater or lesser degree and subjecting them to electronic treatment. It has become almost as ubiquitous as the concertos on which it was based. Now, Richter has remade Recomposed, even recomposing it a bit; the new album is just under four minutes shorter than its predecessor. He also recruits London's ethnically diverse Chineke! Orchestra, gives them gut-stringed period instruments on which to play (the players were using these for the first time, and this works quite a bit better than you might expect), and collaborates with a new violinist, the wirier Elena Urioste in place of Daniel Hope, and also uses "period" electronics, playing a vintage Moog synthesizer himself. Deutsche Grammophon's notes reassure classical listeners that they may not recognize the difference between the Moog and the earlier contemporary electronics, and perhaps this is a problem as well for the many young electronic music fans who have come to Richter, but for anyone around in the 1970s, Richter's bass lines and sonic washes will be quite recognizable. Is Richter simply trying to milk his original concept? Maybe, but in a sense, this was and remains the point. Richter has written that he wanted to use period instruments on the original Recomposed recording but couldn't interest recording companies in the idea. They add a fresh wrinkle to the sound, and the whole new project is an intriguing attempt to see what remains of Vivaldi in an era when music evolves through remixes and through sampling of earlier material rather than being fixed and discrete. There is even a "Levitation Mix" of the "Spring 1" movement, as if to say that the process will continue beyond its latest iteration. It's safe to say that this release has something to offer even to those who know the original Recomposed album well, or for that matter, who know the original Four Seasons well.© James Manheim /TiVo

Hand it to violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter. At an age when many performers are content to rest on their laurels, she has stepped out into new territory, forming Mutter's Virtuosi, an ensemble of young players connected to her Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation. Moreover, she has tentatively incorporated influences from the historical performance movement, although she does not play an early violin in the mostly Baroque and Classical-era program here. Sample the fierce attacks in the Vivaldi Concerto for three violins and orchestra, RV 551, or, for that matter, the Four Seasons movement that is included as one of the encores. Leading Mutter's Virtuosi from the violin, she draws a nice contrast between Vivaldi and Bach; the latter, even as influenced as he was by the Italian manner, never adopted the full-scale sense of operatic drama. Mutter also leads the group in the intriguing Nonet by André Previn, her ex-husband, which, while not a Baroque work, has a neoclassical sense of symmetry with its two string groups pivoting on a single double bass. Among the three encores are also two pieces by John Williams, arranged for Mutter by the composer. The program proper ends with the Violin Concerto No. 2 in A major, Op. 5, of Joseph Boulogne (or Bologne), Chevalier de Saint-Georges, the hot Caribbean-French composer of Mozart's day; Mutter delivers probably the best available performance of this rather grand work. One might take issue with this or that here, but the plain fact is that the album, taken from a live 2022 performance at the Vienna Musikverein, is a great deal of fun and shows this great violinist in fine form as she passes on her secrets to young followers. This album made classical best-seller charts in the late autumn of 2023.© James Manheim /TiVo

These "concerti per una vita" ("concertos for a life") do indeed span the career of Vivaldi, from his early years as a student of (probably) Legrenzi to his late experiments in Vienna, but that is not really the main point. Violinist and Le Consort director Théotime Langlois de Swarte seeks out Vivaldi oddities and extremes. There are several world premieres here, and de Swarte claims that they round out the known corpus of Vivaldi's works. Of course, new music by Vivaldi is being discovered from time to time, so this may not hold for long. The biggest news is the presence of the original version of the "Summer" concerto from The Four Seasons, RV 315, held in a library in Genoa and apparently preceding the whole set. It has no attached sonnet (those were added later), and there are small but significant differences from the version most people know. More generally, de Swarte, taking strenuous issue with the idea that Vivaldi wrote the same concerto 500 times, seems to have sought out works that are strange in one way or another, excerpting pieces and including unfinished works as they support his idea. Sample the six-movement Violin Concerto in D minor, RV 813, a fascinating work in which the young Vivaldi decisively stepped out from Corellian models. De Swarte's Le Consort is bulked up here to 16 violins, offering a welcome way of hearing Vivaldi's music in an epoch of underpowered performances, and his solo playing has a good deal of flash and flair. This album is a must for serious Vivaldi fans, and it contains a good deal of exciting music for anyone.© James Manheim /TiVo

Eschewing its usual heavy orchestral sound in favor of a more stripped-down instrumentation, Dutch violinist Janine Jansen's second album offers a fresh interpretation of one of the most performed classical works, Vivaldi's The Four Seasons. The 2005 follow-up to her Barry Wordsworth-conducted debut, the subtle but passionate renditions of the "La Primavera," "L'estate," "L'autunno," and "L'inverno" concertos are performed with a sparse, eight-piece ensemble including Lithuanian violinist Julian Rachlin, her cellist brother Maarten, and harpsichordist father Jan.© TiVo

Julien Chauvin and his ensemble, Le Concert de la Loge, are back with a new programme of concertos as part of the renowned Vivaldi Edition that the French label Naïve Classique began in 2000. This recording venture is based on Antonio Vivaldi’s personal collection of music scores. Stored in the National University Library of Turin, this collection consists of over 450 works by the Venetian genius, including hundreds of concertos for various instruments and a vast quantity of vocal, secular and sacred music.Recorded in Angers, in the majestic atmosphere of the former Saint-Jean Hospital (which is now home to the Museum of Jean-Lurçat and contemporary tapestry), this album is centred around six violin concertos that Vivaldi composed for the famous violinist Johann Georg Pisendel, who was admired throughout Europe and was working in Dresden with the city’s prestigious orchestra at the time. Many works were dedicated to and written for Pisendel; some say that Bach dedicated his Sonatas et Partitas to him. This album comprises three concertos composed for him (RV 237, RV 314 and RV 340) and three others copied by his hand (RV 225, RV 226 and RV 369).Julien Chauvin plays these concertos on a period instrument, a Guadagnini dating back to 1780. The composition of these pieces is impeccable, alternating a mischievous and witty character with anguish, sometimes tinged with a visceral sense of anxiety. Vivaldi utilises double strings and joyful, high register arpeggios in the fastest passages.The high-quality performances of the numerous musicians who have collaborated on this ambitious recording project can only be admired. The series has been beautifully directed by musicologist Alberto Basso, who conceived and spearheaded this colossal edition which has hugely contributed to our knowledge and understanding of Vivaldi's works. © François Hudry/Qobuz

The Three Seasons of Antonio Vivaldi, proposed here by violinist Giuliano Carmignola, have nothing to do with the Four Seasons but rather are "seasons" of the composer's life, from his youth to his final years, when he sought an improvement of his fortunes beyond Italy. These don't correspond to sharp stylistic divisions like those in Beethoven's career, but his style did shift according to the ways in which he made a living (which could overlap during these phases of his life). He was variously a priest (later defrocked), a teacher (writing elegant, not terrifically difficult concertos for an orchestra of girls), one of the creators of the Italian virtuoso tradition, an opera composer and director, and a freelance composer of light galant works in Vienna. All these styles could appear at any time, but the emphasis shifts as his career proceeds, and all are amply illustrated by this three-volume compendium. Carmignola is one of the top Vivaldi exponents of our time, and he shifts gears quite effectively among these styles, handling the virtuoso piece like the Violin Concerto in A major, RV 353, with a good deal of flair but producing equally fluent essays in the well-balanced type of Vivaldi concerto that is generally familiar, like the Violin Concerto in E minor, RV 265, from the collection L'estro armonico. The Accademia dell'Annunciata orchestra under Riccardo Doni keeps up with the stylistic twists and turns here, and the only real complaint is the noisy church sound from Arcana's engineers, lending a harsh tinge. This recording will bring hours of interesting listening for Vivaldi lovers.© James Manheim /TiVo

This new Vivaldi album marks a double anniversary, the thirty-year anniversary of the close collaboration between Cecilia Bartoli and the famous English label Decca, and the twenty-year anniversary of the very successful first Vivaldian opus. This time leaving behind Giovanni Antonini and his Il Giardino Armonico ensemble, Cecilia Bartoli has selected French musicians well versed in Vivaldi’s music, as if to demonstrate the universal nature of the Red Priest’s compositions. In fact, Jean-Christophe Spinosi and his Ensemble Matheus have distinguished themselves with Vivaldi’s instrumental music since their early days. They started off their collaboration with five concerts, dedicated of course to the Venetian composer, in Munich, Prague, Baden-Baden and Versailles. For their first recording together they selected ten opera titles, nine of which weren’t featured on the 1999 album. The plethora of Vivaldi operas provides an endless supply to recitalists who can easily put together, as is the case here, an extremely lively programme featuring the most beautiful gems of an extraordinarily expansive composer whose melodic liveliness has been a constantly fascinating topic. This release is also beautiful in itslef (accessible on your Qobuz account), as it features a photo book containing beautiful portraits of Cecila Bartoli taken by Roman photographer Viviane Purdom, who has devoted her life to masterfully shooting great classical musicians. Happy anniversary indeed! © François Hudry/Qobuz

One of Antonio Vivaldi’s undisputed masterpieces—alongside the famous Quattro Stagioni—L’Estro armonico, a set of 12 concertos for stringed instruments, caused a real stir when it was first published in Amsterdam in 1711. Vivaldi’s creation fascinated many composers, beginning with Johann Sebastian Bach who decided to transcribe several of these concertos for keyboard during his time in Weimar. He explored Italian musical inclinations in great detail, and his personal work often reflects the perfect assimilation of Italian-style virtuosity and the melodic art typical of the musicians from the peninsula (Corelli, Vivaldi, Marcello, Torelli, etc.).In this magnificent double album, Rinaldo Alessandrini confronts Vivaldi’s original orchestras and Bach’s arrangements. There’s Concerto No. 3 from L’Estro armonico (for solo violin), followed by the version for keyboard (BWV 978)—in this case a solo harpsichord—and Concerto No. 10 from Vivaldi’s Opus 3, followed by its famous elaboration for four keyboards (BWV 1065). Of course, it’s fascinating to compare the originals with Bach’s versions; the German composer will often enrich the polyphonic texture or change the melodic contours. Vivaldi, on the other hand, displays melodic genius and great instrumental imagination, as well as an innate ability to create an incredible ambience. It’s nothing short of enchanting: no wonder his work left the whole of Europe stunned.The orchestral versions of Rinaldo Alessandrini and his Concerto italiano can only be described as prodigious. They display such finesse and flexibility (and a beautiful instrumental reach too!). Their textures are silky, their rhythm poised and perfectly formed (right from Concerto No.1, which opens the collection). Bach’s versions take a backseat here, despite the outstanding performances given by Rinaldo Alessandrini on harpsichord and Lorenzo Ghielmi on the organ, which are a real treat for the ears. The star of the show is Vivaldi. With this release, Rinaldo Alessandrini and his Concerto Italiano provide one of the most beautiful and formidably joyful interpretations of L’Estro armonico. It’s simply unmissable! © Pierre-Yves Lascar/Qobuz

A beautiful and talented new generation of young musicians are giving the classical repertoire a new lease of life. Born into a family of musicians, violinist Théotime Langlois de Swarte grew up listening to baroque music. At the young age of twenty-four, he’s established himself as one of the most gifted and inventive musicians of his generation. He has five albums under his belt, including a beautiful recording of French sonatas for violin and harpsichord, which he recorded alongside the brilliant William Christie, one of his musical heroes.Though comfortable with all repertoires, Théotime Langlois de Swarte has confessed a preference for the forgotten musicians; the creators of hidden treasures. In this new album, he showcases the work of the violinist, dancer and composer from Lyon, Jean-Marie Leclair, as well as two of his contemporaries, Vivaldi and Locatelli. Under this young violinist’s bow (a Pierre Tourte, which is to bows what Stradivarius is to violins), the instrument sings with unparalleled emotion and allows the music to breathe deeply. It’s the very embodiment of youth and joy, and a real treat for both the ears and the heart. © François Hudry/Qobuz

After a double album dedicated to Boccherini and acclaimed by critics, Ophélie Gaillard and the Pulcinella Orchestra reveal the incredible sound palette of Vivaldi, one of the most brilliant venetian musicians. Drawing on the finest cello works of the composer, Ophélie Gaillard’s selection places great emphasis on the concerto, for one, two or even four performers. It also includes an exclusive reconstruction of the Concerto RV 788. The vocal interventions of Lucile Richardot and Delphine Galou light up the program like rays of sun through the clouds. The album alternates between moments of great emotion, sometimes even dolorous as in the Largo of the Concerto RV 416, and moments of passion and frenzy (in the Concertos RV 419 or RV 409) that evoke "The Summer" from The Four Seasons. This music thus unveils all its mysteries in the interplay of lights and shadows, giving its name to this recording. © Aparté