Seasons

"All discussions of aesthetics aside, you simply won't find more intelligent or musical recorder playing anywhere, and if you're a fan of the instrument this release will be essential listening. BIS complements the excellence of the performances with state-of-the-art engineering".

"Vivaldis Meisterwerke gibt Lina Tur Bonet in ihrer Neuinterpretation einen frischen Aspekt, indem sie mit ihrem Ensemble Musica Alchemica wunderbar neuartige Klangfarben sucht und findet. Mit der Minimalbesetzung von nur sieben Musikern plus Solistin wird eine maximale Transparenz erreicht, die sonst nie gekannte Mittelstimmen und die Basslinie deutlich aufwertet, gleichzeitig an Virtuosität und Kraft aber nichts vermissen lässt. Für Piazzollas Jahreszeiten-Version wechselt Lina Tur Bonet das Instrument und die Begleitband. Aber auch hier besticht sie mit gefühlvoller Interpretation und grossartigem Ensemblespiel".

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"It's a recording worthy of Bell's star quality, a fine Four Seasons for those not ready to take the plunge into historical performance, and an impressive feat of (mostly) studio engineering".

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"If you're a Joshua Bell and/or Vivaldi fan, or if you've just arrived on planet Earth and therefore haven't yet acquired your first Four Seasons recording, you only have to consider whether these performances are distinctive and authoritative and exciting enough to move them from the store shelves to yours. The answer is unequivocally "yes"".

"The Four Seasons in chamber guise might be appreciated for its transparency and lighter feeling, but Accent's reproduction is boosted and quite loud, so La Petite Bande sounds almost orchestral in its loudest passages anyway, and the advantages of pairing down the ensemble seem minimal".

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"Kennedy's Four Seasons is an album which transformed not just the interpretive breadth accorded Vivaldi, but the commercial potential of classical music as a whole. Repackaged along with a Golden Rose-winning film of Kennedy's performance, it remains strikingly fresh, with the sly, dive-bombing glissandi and fluttering-leaf trills which open the Adagio Molto second movement of the Autumn concerto still having the power to shock two decades on".

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"It is sufficiently respectful of Baroque sensibilities as to appeal to those who might shy away from too much animal scene-setting and yet has enough meteorological definition to convey the fact that Vivaldi was not just writing four concertos but was trying to capture images of spring, summer, autumn and winter within them".

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"Her kommer, i stedet for endnu en soloviolin, en opsigtsvækkende anderledes version med blokfløjtevirtuosen Dan Laurin i solistrollen ... Uden at være hidsig som en Fabio Biondi, til eksempel, får han med masser af frie forsiringer, nogle af dem ganske eksotiske, samt forskellige slags vibrato og andre effekter skabt friske, farverige fortolkninger".

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"Der er spillemandstradition smurt ud over noderne med pudsigt glidende ansatser, høj fart og masser af pågående eftertryk på første slag i takten. Vi får lyden af vejrliget, der hamrer af sted så voldsomt, som var det begsort norsk blackmetal. Der bliver satset højt - og det lykkes smukt".

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"Kan man lide sin Vivaldi cremet, sleben og lækker, er her nyindspilningen, der løfter sig over de andre mainstream-’ Årstider’. Sarah Chang er en violinist i superligaen, og hun spiller med total præcision. Hendes Vivaldi er varm og sammenspillet med Orpheusmusikerne aldrig mindre end intenst ... Spilletiden på en lille time. Ikke meget for en klassisk cd. Til gengæld er hvert minut rendyrket perfektion".

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"En utrolig sjælden og medrivende musik, de får leget sig frem til mellem fuglelyde, lydbilleder af fordrukne bønder, brølende tordenvejr og isnende kuldegysninger ... Samtidig med at man danser rundt foran højttalerne, for der er rigtig meget kropslig energi bundet op på den upolerede skønhed, kan man mærke billedkraften i musikken. Det er ekstraordinært godt".

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"De fire årstider ... bliver ved med at inspirere gode violinister og komponister til nye versioner og omskrivninger, der kan stikke ud blandt de mere end 300 eksisterende indspilninger. Den situation kræver noget helt ekstraordinært, og selv om den energiske tyske violinist Arabella Steinbacher giver et fornuftigt bud sammen med Münchens kammerorkester, er det ikke nok ... Det bliver bare for pænt".

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"Det er det udmærkede italienske strygerensemble Archi dell'Accademia di Santa Cecilia, der spiller, og som solist - og vel også dirigent? - hører man den 35-årige slovensk-kroatiske cellist Luka Sulic. Eksperimentet er ikke helt vellykket, dels fordi man uvægerligt kommer til at savne soloviolinens lysere virkning, dels fordi orkesterklangen i det hele taget forekommer lige lovlig robust".

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"Luka Sulic er fra Slovenien og ... på det nye album har han slået sig sammen med strygergruppen i det romerske symfoniorkester Accademia di Santa Cecilia, og det er ikke så tosset, det, de sammen får ud af de fire temperamentsfulde violinkoncerter. Sulic prøver at finde yderpunkterne i Vivaldis musik, så den faktisk både får kant og gode melodier, og strygerne spiller varmt og tight. Man kan sagtens mærke både romantisk længsel og dramatisk vrede, når Sulic lægger sin brede celloklang helt frem i lydbilledet og lader den skære igennem. Problemet er, at de ikke kan så meget mere med Vivaldis musik. Energiniveauet falder tit, og klangen - hvor alt af gode grunde ligger i mellemlejet - bliver hurtigt kedelig og endimensionel. Og så falder Vivaldis musik sammen som tung soufflé".

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"In place of the English Chamber Orchestra he deploys his own band plus a phalanx of guest artists spanning the jazz and rock worlds; and in a mash-up that takes no hostages, he thrashes the Baroque notions of instrumental embellishment and continuo improvisations to within an inch of their lives".

"Wer Kennedy schon immer kritisierte für unsauberes Spiel und stereotype Artikulation, dem wird es diese CD vielleicht leichter machen, darüber hinwegzusehen".

"Den gode nyhed er, at attituden og den rasende energi i Kennedys spil er intakt. Den dårlige nyhed er - ja, dem er der en hulens masse af. Det vi hører er ikke Vivaldis fire violinkoncerter, men et sammenklip af dem med nye lyde: talte, sungne, improviserede, elektroniske. Fint nok ... Problemet er, at hans album er så svært at lytte til. Vivaldis musik kommer sjældent op at køre grundet den besynderlige frasering, som Kennedy og hans orkester vælger ... og fordi det så ofte mangler momentum. Al energien ... tabes, mens konflikten fyldes af ikke-musikalske afbrydelser".

"Ganz unabhängig von der mehr als fragwürdigen Interpretation hat diese CD aber einen gewissen Repertoirewert. weil sie vor die "Vier Jahreszeiten" sechs streicherstücke von Marini, Merula, Uccelini und Pasino stellt, in denen naturalistische Themen aufgegriffen und verarbeitet werden".

"Vurdering: Tipp" - "Da die Musiker der Balkan Baroque Band crossovererfahren sind, fliessen auch typische Spielweisen der Volksmusik in ihre Vivaldi-Interpretationen ein ... Dieses auch aufnahmetechnisch makellose Album ist für mich eine der spektakulärsten Neuerscheinungen des CD-Jahres 2013".

"Dmitry Sinkovsky blows safe out of the water. With minimal strings and a continuo mustering two harpsichords, archlute and Baroque harp, he already sets himself apart from the crowd ... As a violinist he's got exuberance to spare".

"Lina Tur Bonet is no shrinking violet, and here she creates highly original interpretations of Vivaldi's Seasons - with satisfying results. On a Baroque Amati of 1740, she and Musica Alchemica are bold in their choice of tempos, use of rubato and range of bow strokes - and in the Piazzolla their distinctiveness is dialled up to 11".

"Vurdering: BBC music concerto choice" - "This fresh approach grows out of the work itself, and as a period instrument ensemble La Serenissima fully understands what an imaginative continuo section can bring to the table ... If the sheer sweep and vivacity captivates, details are just as telling".

"Nicht nur die Fuge hat Astor Piazzolla gemocht. Auch die rhythmische Energie der Barockmusik findet man in seinen Tangos. Der argentinische Barockgeiger Andrés Gabetta ist in beiden Welten zu Hause. Und legt mit seiner auf historischen Instrumenten spielenden Cappella Gabetta eine schön kratzbürstieg, plastische Aufnahme vor. In Vivaldis 'Vier Jahreszeiten' besticht Gabetta mit impulsiven, improvisatorisch klingenden Soli ... Auch die vier Piazzolla-Sätze spielen die Orchestermusiker auf Barockinstrumenten, was gut funktioniert ... Mario Stefano Pietrodarchi am Bandoneon ist ein grosser Erzähler und lässt das Instrument atmen ... Auch hier bewegt sich die Cappella Gabetta so traumwandlerisch wie ein Tangotänzer. Insgesamt zeigt sich: Vivaldi und Piazzolla sind sich erstaunlich nah".

"Kraggerud's visceral, brighttoned approach to Four Seasons tries a little too hard in places; four of his own somewhat inconsequential compositions are interleaved".

"This is an intriguing and unique set. The other concertos, two of which are first recordings, make an attractive bonus".

"Einmal mehr stellt Kuijken überkommene Hörgewohnheiten in Frage, aber nicht des Effektes, sondern der Sache wegen. Manches wird man noch klären oder differenzieren müssen, aber Kuijkens Ansatz eröffnet völlig neue Einsichten".

"She [Debretzeni] directs 14 strings, harpsichord and theorbo of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and cerates a sense of intimate chamber-playing which we're privileged to share".

"Concerto choice: Part of the freshness stems from the interaction between Podger and her one-to-a-part ensemble. She's first among equals and the dynamic couldn't be further removed from the usual notion of the concerto as a vehicle for the all-conquering soloist ... It's striking just how many soloistic opportunities Vivaldi offers the ensemble ... Musical details are incisively etched".

"Roed is an accomplished recorder player and what she achieves here is technically impressive and, more often than not, musically convincing ... While adjustments to the melodic line of the solo violin are required to accommodate the recorder, Roed's skill in producing a satisfying result is striking. Perhaps the most convincing of the concertos are three in which Vivaldi, though offering a choice between violin and oboe, clearly had the latter foremost in mind. There are other delights, too, and many pleasing details ... Roed is supported throughout by the stylish and sympathetic playing of Arte dei Suonatori".

"Given the hundreds of versions of Vivaldi's Four Seasons already avaiable, another might seem superfluous. Yet few are as radiantly beguiling, nor so immaculately tuned as to rival ... For those who despair at the number of recent 'HIP' versions ... in which Vivaldi's onomatopoeic effects have been allowed to run riot, Steinbacher's alluring tone, espressivo phrasing, subtle vibrato inflections and bewitching cantabile should provide a vital tonic ... Yet what makes this fine-honed account stand out from the pack is [the Piazzolla] ... Steinbacher treads the fine line between Argentinian heat and Parisian cool with flair and sensitivity".

"Vivaldis "Vier Jahrzeiten" ... Auch Arabella Steinbacher hat den barocken Evergreen jetzt aufgenommen ... Auf gutem Niveau sicherlich, aber bei Vivaldi haben dann doch andere die Marken gesetzt ... Von grösserem Reiz ist Piazzollas neuzeitlicher Blick auf die Jahreszeiten. Es erklingt hier ein Arrangement des ursprünglichen Tango-Quintetts von Peter von Wienhardt. Engagiert, emotional und mitreissend interpretiert".

"Everything's done with great care, buoyancy and tastefulness, but that very tastefulness can be over-respectful ... Better is the joyously incisive account of the four-violin concerto Bach reworked as a dazzling showcase for four harpsichords, while best of all is the first movement of the Sinfonia to La verita in cimento which crackles with the elemental force of a forest fire".