Competition! Best violin interpretation of Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons “Winter” First Movement, Allegro non molt

[Kuoppis]

Other competitors that in my modest opinion are a must listen:

Arthur Grumiaux with Les Solistes Romandes (I think this was only issued on vinyl but might be mistaken)
Gil Shaham with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
Renato Fasano with the Virtuosi di Roma
Henryk Szering and the English Chamber Orchestra
Gerard Shwarz & Elmar Oliveira with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra
Seiji Ozawa & Boston Symphony Orchestra
(I also second the I Musici & Pina Carmirelli version)

Need to check these out, a lot more candidates.

Which one is your favorite after Carmirelli?


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[GSOphile]

Thank you, glad you like it. Please share in case you have something Four Seasonish in you collection you particularly like.
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Kuoppis, I love classical music, but my tastes run more toward large scale classical (e.g., Beethoven). That said, always interesting to read how a sophisticated listner values one performance of a piece over others.

 

[Kuoppis]

Kuoppis, I love classical music, but my tastes run more toward large scale classical (e.g., Beethoven). That said, always interesting to read how a sophisticated listner values one performance of a piece over others.

Great, let’s pick Beethoven’s 5th as the next competition once we have this one figured out [emoji3].


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[GSOphile]

Great, let’s pick Beethoven’s 5th as the next competition once we have this one figured out [emoji3].


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Or his 3d, where there seems to be more controversy.

 

[bart]

Or his 3d, where there seems to be more controversy.

Indeed.
A lot of options, with very different approaches.

 

[PeterA]

This is my favorite, but I have not heard all of the ones mentioned in this thread.

 

[Narayan]

Need to check these out, a lot more candidates.

Which one is your favorite after Carmirelli?


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I don´t have a favourite, or should I better say can´t pick one, all the ones I mentioned made an impression on me and I would be hard pressed to remove any of them from my listening. If anything I would add the Carmignola version to the must have list too

 

[nonesup]

Peter, how strange, but how beautiful

 

[Spock]

In my opinion, this is one of the greatest works of art of all time.
I´m a little obsessed by the 4 Seasons, I must confess.
I have had already many CD´s of this work. But I made a selection and now I go for the Drottninghom Baroque Ensemble (already mencioned) and this one below, directed by Trevor Pinnock, with the violin of Simon Standage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RsZ5fpgSlI

 

[Kuoppis]

In my opinion, this is one of the greatest works of art of all time.
I´m a little obsessed by the 4 Seasons, I must confess.
I have had already many CD´s of this work. But I made a selection and now I go for the Drottninghom Baroque Ensemble (already mencioned) and this one below, directed by Trevor Pinnock, with the violin of Simon Standage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RsZ5fpgSlI

I found this to be very nice: Very clean play, great timing, no omitting, no fumbling. Pretty much perfect.

Also interplay with the orchestra is very nice, a bit of drama, cembalo filling in.

I understand why you like it, I like it too.


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[Kuoppis]

This is my favorite, but I have not heard all of the ones mentioned in this thread.

Very nice one, a lots of drama. Especially in the beginning it is like from a Hitchcock movie.

Even in MQA on Tidal.

Nice ensemble and great play.


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[A.S.]

Childhood sentiments but it still counts or ....it was my sweet grandmother's favorite:

 

[Howiebrou]

My favourite and my go to for many classical recordings: The Academy of Ancient Music

 

[Kuoppis]

Childhood sentiments but it still counts or ....it was my sweet grandmother's favorite:

Wow, very impressive play by the old master. For sure little to complain about. My only grief would be his violin sound on this one, which I find a bit squeaky. But that might also be the media.

And of course as this is an old recording the arrangement is very traditional and appears a bit thumpy in the mid part, compared to more modern arrangements.




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[Kuoppis]

My favourite and my go to for many classical recordings: The Academy of Ancient Music

Another great find and a version to enjoy. Very dynamic, as I find.

Any likes or dislikes really come to personal preferences in the interpretation. Personally I enjoy the contrast between the lyric flow in the second solo and the following chorus. With a staccato phrasing as played here the difference between solo and chorus had a bit less dynamic contrast IMHO.


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[lucifertk]

I like to listen pleasant songs. I will travel in Gulf Airline next week. For entertain myself I would like to listen music. Can any one suggest some good music songs?

 

[joeinid]

Welcome to the forum, thank you for joining.

 

[CPP]

This is my favorite, but I have not heard all of the ones mentioned in this thread.

This is my wife's favorite as well.

 

[PeterA]

This is my wife's favorite as well.

I took this LP to the New York audio show in 2012 and asked a few of the rooms to play it for me so that I could better asses the sound in those rooms. Everyone loved this LP and one of the guys waited for two days hoping I would return so that he could write down the information about the recording so that he could find a copy and use it as a reference LP.

 

[Jozua]

The Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble, Nils-Erik Sparf

Verdict: I find the orchestra lacking a bit in dynamic in the beginning, but Sparf brings very nice tempo and temperament into play and the orchestra catches up very well in the crescendo part.

What is particularly nice about this one is that the orchestra plays with Baroque instruments as well, which sound a bit different as well.


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I agree, this is an excellent recording and would love to have it on sacd.

Subjectively I do sometimes find the tempo a bit fast and somewhat unnatural.