Vivaldi: The Four Seasons short reviews.

Discussion in 'Music and Recordings' started by wnmnkh, Oct 7, 2015.

  1. wnmnkh

    wnmnkh Friend

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    There are two specific classical recordings I tend to collect. One is Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, other is Handel's Messiah.

    Obviously, there is messiah-guide.com for , which is a de-facto ultimate Messiah site that pretty much has everything you ever need for Messiah. So I'd like to create a thread for reviewing The Four seasons and its variations available.

    Of course, I have only 40 recordings of The Four Seasons, and they are just a drop in the oceans of countless The Four Seasons recordings. I also am not formally educated nor deeply educated enough on music (despite the fact that I played piano for more than 5 years and some violin... but it was long time ago and I forgot pretty much everything including crescendo.)

    It means there will be very high chance that I will make mistakes on stuffs such as instruments (modern, period, or unusual instruments) and other stuffs. Also the reviews are personal; some people won't like what I like, and vice versa. Of course, I won't be talking much about playing quality as well.

    In the other thread, I said I dislike the fact that there are few high-resolution cover arts available for tons of classical albums, and many The Four Seasons recordings are no different. You will find that even the most popular ones in Amazon do not have proper high-res cover arts. For each review, I will attach a high-res cover art for the recording I reviewed. Most of the time, I bought CDs, and I personally scanned sleeves, edited and cleaned results. The ones I posted are jpg type with 20% of compression, with size of 2000x2000. I do have png versions available as well. PM me if interested in png files.

    Some tips :


    [1] Many times, typing 'The Four Seasons' does not give you full results. There are non-English names for The Four Seasons.

    Italian : Le Quattro Stagioni (obviously, Antonio Vivaldi was an Italian. Tons of recordings outside of US can be discovered by typing this)
    French : Les Quatre Saisons
    German : Die vier Jahreszeiten
    Swedish : De fyra årstiderna
    Korean : 사계
    Japanese/Chinese : 四季


    [2] It is very hard to avoid getting into repackaged/reissued recordings (not just same label. Labels themselves recycle a lot of stuffs among another.) It's very confusing, and only way to ensure is check recording date and follow lead violinist and conductor. Even if the violinist, the ensemble and the conductor are same, if the recording date is different, it is different recording and can be very, very different sounding.


    [3] If you like Vivaldi in general, labels to look for are Naive and Brilliant Classics.

    Working with the University Library of Turin, Naive is working on its vivaldi edition, which will release all known 450+ Vivaldi manuscripts into recordings. So far they have released about 60+ recordings.

    Brilliant Classics, which is used to be a cheap repackaging labels. Began to record its own recordings for their box sets. 2014 Vivaldi Edition is a prime example of Brilliant Classic's efforts, and the pretty much all new recordings are incredibly good including The Four Seasons. (Op.8)


    [4] Finally, this thread is open and anyone can write reviews or short impressions. Feedbacks are also welcome.




    Le Quattro Stagioni Stagioni Dresden Version.jpg
    (click the image to save the original file)
    1. Vivaldi: Le Quattro Stagioni; Guido: Le Quattro Stagioni Stagioni Dresden Version with Winds
    Label : CPO
    Lead violinist : Federico Guglielmo
    Conductor(director) : N/A
    Ensemble/Orchestra : L'Arte dell'Arco
    Setting : Small-scale ensemble
    Instruments : Period instruments and various wind instruments (unusual)
    Recording/release year : 2001/2004
    Recording type : DDD
    Medium : SACD/Redbook hybrid (only redbook part listened)
    Recording quality : 10/10
    Availability : easily obtainable via Amazon and other big sites.
    Overall Score : 9/10

    Unlike other 'wind' versions which only consisted of recorder(s) or flute(s), this recording employs other wind instruments such as oboe, bassoon, horns and a chamber organ. Which is really good because those low-sounding wind instruments really give body to the sound. I personally find recorder or flute-lead versions too light for my taste.

    Tempo overall is quite fast and aggressive, yet pleasant to listen to. Use of two recorders as duo really works well. Recording quality is also superb and flawless.

    Liner notes contain plenty of information such as list of instruments and some background information about Vivaldi and recording.

    Currently as of typing (10/7/2015), this is one of the top 10 The Four Seasons recordings for me.
     
    Last edited: Oct 13, 2015
  2. wnmnkh

    wnmnkh Friend

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    and wow. I posted this one on Vinyl Records again. I swear I was working in Music and Records section, can anyone move this?
     
  3. The Alchemist

    The Alchemist MOT: Schiit - Here to help!

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    no problem - done.
     
  4. wnmnkh

    wnmnkh Friend

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    2015-10-07-0063-finished.jpg
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    2. Vivaldi: The Four Seasons "Insert whatever Naxos decides to put as an extra" (shown above is "Wind Concerti")
    Label : Naxos
    Lead violinist : Takako Nishizaki
    Conductor(director) : Stephen Gunzenhauser
    Ensemble/Orchestra : Cappella Istropolitana
    Setting : Small Orchestra
    Instruments : Modern Instruments
    Recording/release year : 1987/various
    Recording type : DDD
    Medium : Redbook
    Recording quality : 9/10
    Availability : easily obtainable via Amazon and other big sites. Just be careful with many reissues and replicates. Takako Nishizaki only made one recording.
    Overall Score : 8/10 (updated. Felt 7/10 was too little)

    Done by Takako Nishizaki, a wife of CEO of Naxos. She plays really good.
    However, the particular record does not rated or liked well by people because this is truly one of so called 'standard' the Four Seasons recordings, which means modern instrument with bigger orchestra and slow, un-aggressive tempo. However, I still feel the overall performance is delicate enough. The recording quality, unlike many pre-2000 Naxos recordings, is excellent as well. The fact that it is probably less crazy than many other period performances may appeal to people who are new to Classical music.

    Like many early Naxos albums, liner notes are short and terrible. They do not even mention instruments used or anything useful information other than short descriptions and historical facts on Vivaldi and The Four Seasons. But the price is cheap enough.
     
    Last edited: Oct 13, 2015
  5. wnmnkh

    wnmnkh Friend

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    TrevorPinnockTheFourSeasons.jpg
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    3. Antonio Vivaldi: Le Quattro Stagioni
    Label : ArchIV Production
    Lead violinist : Simon Standage
    Conductor(director) : Trevor Pinnock
    Ensemble/Orchestra : The English Concert
    Setting : Small Orchestra
    Instruments : Period Instruments
    Recording/release year : 1982
    Recording type : DDD
    Medium : Redbook
    Recording quality : 10/10
    Availability : easily obtainable via Amazon and other big sites.
    Overall Score : 8.5/10

    Very nice mix of period instruments and modern performance. This nice combination is probably the reason why many people like this particular recording. I wish harpsichord could had played more vividly.... but for some reason Pinnock decided to not to. It's really for people who wants the sound of period instrument but not the craziness of baroque.

    Speaking of 'vividly', I always feels players are too restrained and too over-disciplined, resulting in slightly lean sound. If they were loose a bit more, this might had been de-facto No.1 The Four Seasons recording for me.
     
    Last edited: Oct 11, 2015
  6. wnmnkh

    wnmnkh Friend

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    Vivaldi-amandine beyer.jpg
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    4. Les quatre Saisons & autres concertos
    Label : Zig-Zag
    Lead violinist : Amandine Beyer
    Conductor(director) : N/A
    Ensemble/Orchestra : Gli Incogniti
    Setting : Ensemble
    Instruments : Period Instruments
    Recording/release year : 2008
    Recording type : DDD
    Medium : Redbook
    Recording quality : 10/10
    Availability : easily obtainable via Amazon and other big sites.
    Overall Score : 9.5/10

    The Vivaldi played by French folks. Very aggressive yet very easy to listen.
    Now, this is true period performance. It really depends on whether you like a certain interpretation or not. If you like it, it will be your no.1 The Four Season recording. If you don't, then it will be probably sound terrible. However, unlike some other recordings, I believe this is still one of easily approachable ones.

    Liner notes and a CD case are well-made. The CD case in particular shows a lot of efforts have been made to make it beautiful. Truly French indeed.

    Overall performance is excellent, and this is also one of top 10 The four Seaons recordings for me.
     
  7. wnmnkh

    wnmnkh Friend

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    DenonVivaldiTheFourSeasons.jpg
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    5. Antonio Vivaldi: Le Quattro Stagioni Concertos for Violin, Strings and Basso continuo Op.8/1-4
    Label : Denon
    Lead violinist : John Holloway
    Conductor(director) : Andrew Parrott
    Ensemble/Orchestra : Taverner Players
    Setting : Ensemble
    Instruments : Period Instruments
    Recording/release year : 1983/1984
    Recording type : DDD
    Medium : Redbook
    Recording quality : 8/10
    Availability : Rare. You are not going to get 'new' one for this for sure. Amazon does sell this, with different cover art. Don't be confused with one published by Virgin/EMI one. They are different recordings despite same conductor and same ensemble.
    Overall Score : 6.5/10

    This particular recording is comparable to Tinnock's. Like Tinnock, mix of period instruments with modern performance. Differences are that this recording is a bit more loose.

    The biggest problem is that the sound is super thin. The result is relatively harsher treble and overall rich-less sound overwhelming. It's too bad because I think performance itself is quite good enough.

    This can be a very good recording if you like thinner sound, and want something restrained and well-disciplined play with period instruments.
     
    Last edited: Oct 13, 2015
  8. Falcor

    Falcor New

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    Thank you for this wnmnkh! I am really enjoying this thread and trying out the different recordings. Les quatre Saisons & autres concertos with Amandine Beyer Is exceptional! Thank you for this discovery!
     
  9. wnmnkh

    wnmnkh Friend

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    Imusicianselmi.jpg
    (click the image to save the original file. Due to file size restriction, the compression factor of this file is 35 instead of 20)
    6. Vivaldi: Le Quattro Stagioni "New Recording"
    Label : Dynamic
    Lead violinist : Antonio Anselmi
    Conductor(director) : N/A
    Ensemble/Orchestra : I Musici
    Setting : Ensemble
    Instruments : Period Instruments
    Recording/release year : 2012
    Recording type : DDD
    Medium : Redbook
    Recording quality : 10/10
    Availability : easily obtainable via Amazon and other big sites.
    Overall Score : 8.5/10

    This is indeed real italians playing their Vivaldi sound. Extremely aggressive playstyle, and extremely fast. Those 'fast' movement parts move really fast that they are already ended before you can feel it.
    I don't really mind being aggressive, but the biggest problem I have is excessive violin screeching. First part of Summer and Winter are actually painful to listen for me.

    Otherwise this is really good recording... excellent play. If not too much screeching, the overall score would had been 9.5 instead of 8.5
     
    Last edited: Oct 12, 2015
  10. wnmnkh

    wnmnkh Friend

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    4seasonsrichardtognetti.jpg
    (click the image to save the original file. Scanned from digitized liner notes which are freely available)
    7. Vivaldi: The 4 Seasons
    Label : BIS
    Lead violinist : Richard Tognetti
    Conductor(director) : Richard Tognetti
    Ensemble/Orchestra : Australian Chamber Orchestra
    Setting : Small Orchestra
    Instruments : Modern instruments + some period instruments. See liner notes.
    Recording/release year : 2014/2015
    Recording type : DDD
    Medium : High-res Download (24/96). SACD version is available. But like pretty much all other BIS records, the original format is PCM so it's better to buy the original format from the site unless you want multi-channel.
    Recording quality : 10/10
    Availability : easily obtainable via Amazon and other big sites. Since this is BIS, you can download High-res from Eclassical.
    Overall Score : 10/10

    So, this is second best The Four Seasons recording overall. And probably the best modern instruments (a bit cheating though) performance for The Four Seasons recording.

    I don't know. It's hard to say. It is fast but not as fast as more aggressive recordings. However, I can't stop thinking that overall sound just feels right. I usually dislike 'dragging' violin play-style at the beginning of the first Spring movement, but for this recording players got it 'right' that I cannot complain about it.

    This is truly an amazing recording, and you should buy one.
     
  11. wnmnkh

    wnmnkh Friend

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    salvatoreaccardothefourseasons.jpg
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    8. Vivaldi: The Four Seasons
    Label : RCA
    Lead violinist : Salvatore Accardo
    Conductor(director) : N/A
    Ensemble/Orchestra : Orchestra da Camera Italiana
    Setting : Small Orchestra
    Instruments : Modern Instruments
    Recording/release year : 1968/1991
    Recording type : ADD (extras are DDD)
    Medium : Redbook
    Recording quality : 7/10
    Availability : easily obtainable via Amazon and other big sites. Be aware of reissues.
    Overall Score : 7/10

    One of better sounding analog master records available. Unfortunately, the overall performance and interpretation are average at best (typical modern instruments performance) though no serious problems like Denon/Andrew Parrott one.

    In this case, extras are actually worth listening for... I personally like Storm At Sea concerto on this recording. However, this is for The Four Seasons recording review, so the overall score is still about 7/10 for me.
     
  12. wnmnkh

    wnmnkh Friend

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    SouthwestGermanChamberOrchestravivaldi.jpg
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    9. Vivaldi: The Four Seasons
    Label : Nonesuch
    Lead violinist : Reinhold Barchet
    Conductor(director) : Friedrich Tilegant
    Ensemble/Orchestra : Southwest German Chamber Orchestra
    Setting : Small Orchestra
    Instruments : Unsure. Sounds like mixed.
    Recording/release year : 1965
    Recording type : AAA
    Medium : Vinyl
    Recording quality : 4/10 (issues at Side-B)
    Availability : easily obtainable via Amazon and other big sites. The quality is the issue.
    Overall Score : 7.5/10

    Despite super terrible recording quality, it is still possible to enjoy very delicate and slow performance. More I listen to, more I grow on this recording. Though the performance of lead violinist is not something exceptional, but overall proper use of harpsichord really saves this recording.

    Well, it took me so much time to getting album art right. Vinyl covers are really difficult to clean, edit compared to CD counterpart. But here it is.
     
    Last edited: Oct 16, 2015
  13. NoStream

    NoStream Acquaintance

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    I'm listening to this right now, and it's really excellent. I'll always have a soft spot for The Four Seasons from learning to play portions of it back in the day. Thanks for these reviews, and I'm looking forward to hearing a few more versions.
     
  14. lm4der

    lm4der A very good sport - Friend

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    Do you have the Il Giardino Armonico? I love this one.
     
  15. Deep Funk

    Deep Funk Deep thoughts - Friend

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    I am going to love this thread.
     
  16. wnmnkh

    wnmnkh Friend

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    Not yet, but soon.
     
  17. Dr Pan K

    Dr Pan K Friend

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    Interesting thread wnmnkh.

    Some classics are missing, do check the following:

    Bach guild Zagreb soloists, Accardo on Philips, Felix Ayo always on Philips and Scimone on Erato to name a few.

    Among the more recent recordings Fabio Biondi on Virgin is quite something.

    edit: Akiko Meyers should also be on your list. Not that she is thaaat talented as other mentioned here, her playing is infact rather "classic" (boring if you ask me), but she does play the best violin ever built...
     
    Last edited: Oct 13, 2015
  18. wnmnkh

    wnmnkh Friend

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    Thank you for the suggestion.

    Yes, I own Fabio Biondi on Virgin (as well as OPUS111/naive), and they will be eventually reviewed. Eventually.....

    Akiko Meyers... You mean 2014 one, right? I did quick listening via Amazon Prime Music and it sounds decent. I don't mind being "classic" really.
     
  19. wnmnkh

    wnmnkh Friend

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    riccardomutithefourseasons.jpg
    (click the image to save the original file. Due to file size restriction, the compression factor of this file is 41 instead of 20)
    10. Vivaldi: The Four Seasons
    Label : Seraphim
    Lead violinist : Giulio Franzetti
    Conductor(director) : Riccardo Muti
    Ensemble/Orchestra : Soloists of La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra
    Setting : Ensemble (seems selected members from a large orchestra)
    Instruments : Modern instruments + harpsichord
    Recording/release year : 1994/1999
    Recording type : DDD (doubtful based on subjective listening. Sounds like ADD or DAD)
    Medium : Redbook
    Recording quality : 6.5/10 ( some noticeable recording defect(s) )
    Availability : easily obtainable via Amazon and other big sites.
    Overall Score : 7/10. However not recommended for purchase due to quality issue.

    I must say something about the quality of the recording.
    Obviously this recording was done on a large hall or something but no effort to correct some of the defects caused by it. Too much reverb ruined this recording. Not to mention some serious issues like sound being out-of-phase for a sec or two at one of the tracks. Overall this is so poorly done. I also think that based on this distinct 'veil' (not that reverb), despite DDD written on both CD and the liner notes, I am pretty sure this whole recording has been processed in analog means somewhere in the chain.

    This is modern performance with slightly fast tempo. Both lead violinist and the ensemble is decent at best, but like one above, a good use of harpsichord saves this recording.

    Though, I don't really recommend this recording due to quality issues.
     
  20. wnmnkh

    wnmnkh Friend

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    It turns out my Reinhold Barchet vinyl is indeed defective. I bought another copy at Ebay. See how it goes...
     

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