Antonio Vivaldi - The Four Seasons [Vinyl] SLC 23
CONCERTOS OP. VIII N ° 1 to 4 - Cemento dell'armonia e dell'invenzione
In their time, the success of the Four Seasons was not less than today.
In France, "Le Printemps" was arranged in a thousand ways. They made a musette, a motet, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a solo for flute. Franco Gulli performs these works on the famous Stradivarius violin "Maréchal Berthier" which belonged to Ferenc von Vecsey
Sound recording: Thomas Gallia, direction André Charlin - compatible stereo
Charlin process in co-production with Angelicum Dischi of Milan
Details
"Spring" (E major) - "Spring" (E Major)
1. Allegro (3 '36' ') - 2. Largo (2' 43 '') - 3. Allegro (Danza pastoral) (4 '23' ')
"Summer" (G minor) - "Summer" (g minor)
4. Allegro non molto - Allegro (5 '24' ') - 5. Adagio (2' 07 '')
6. Presto - Adagio - Presto (3 '03' ')
"Autumn" (F major) - "Autumn" (F Major)
7. Allegro (Ballo and Canto de Villanelli) (4 '58' ')
8. Adagio molto (Ubriachi dormenti) (2 '28' ') - 9. Allegro (The caccia) (3' 51 '')
"Winter" (F minor) - "Winter" (f minor)
10. Allegro non molto (3 '41' ') - 11. Largo (2' 19 '') - 12. Allegro (3 '08' ')Carl de Nys
The first four concertos of op. VIII of Vivaldi appeared in 1725 at The Last Supper in Amsterdam. Their dedication to Count Morzin states that "the said Count had listened to these concertos with kindness long before the edition, but here they are somehow renewed by the addition of sonnets and by the detailed explanation of all the vicissitudes ..." .
The famous Sonnets of the Seasons were well wanted by Vivaldi but nothing tells us that they were at the origin of these masterpieces of concert violin. We would assume that the musician, sometimes astute in business and knowing the taste of this time for nature and his
description "in the arts, had the idea to give them this
additional attraction. No doubt he did not foresee that these famous sonnets, indirectly but certainly not less, would contribute to his resurrection and his vogue in our time than any other of his works.
I imagine that this case of the Seasons does not exist, that I listen to these concertos with a new ear and I then distinguish the causes of their enchantment. It is the rhythmic energy, the sound dynamism working by big blocks, repetitions, echoes, decorative effects and this
a kind of animal health that reflects the bass of a robust energy. Then the constant force of interiorization, of expressive depth, valve of the harmonious Mediterranean equilibrium, closer to Haendel than to Bach. There are these songs of a purity and a new sensibility with regard to the current production of his time; he
surrounded by an atmosphere that makes it clear that only half a century separated it from the romantic explosion. These concertos, which set the classic laws of the genre and continue to pose formidable problems for the performers, are well in our time. Listen in the one in F minor to the singing of the solo violin over the pizzicati, of a
infinite desolation, almost of anguish. It is the brilliant message of the Venetian abbot who died miserably in Vienna, to whom the quick funerals of the poor were made, as at Mozart.