Director
Adrian Chandler
and his historical performance group
La Serenissima
have had broad success with Baroque music releases that combine period instruments and research background with strong, audience-friendly melodic appeal. Even with this background, however, they must have hesitated before stepping into this new recording of
Vivaldi
's
Four Seasons violin concertos
, along with others from the same published group,
Op. 8
. The appearance of the album on classical best-seller charts in early 2025 shows that their instincts were correct; this is not the usual set of
Four Seasons
. The violinist is
Chandler
, playing a modern copy of an
Amati
violin with his usual bright, appealing tone. However, his real innovation here lies not in his playing but in his direction, adding highly unusual rubato to many of the movements and allowing a considerable amount of direct foot-tapping appeal to the music. The effect is that the balance between violin and orchestra is pushed toward the former, which may be a questionable move in music by a virtuoso violinist. On the other hand, it may be hard to resist. It is notable that
applies these sounds more to the
than to the other concertos included; he sets out the
, with their detailed programmatic nature and accompanying sonnets, as unique items within Vivaldi's catalog. This is the first volume in an ongoing
series from
, and it will be interesting to hear how
's approach plays out on subsequent releases. For now, sample and enjoy the experiment. As with other aspects of this release, the silvery sound from Cedars Hall at Wells Cathedral School will be to some tastes but not to others. ~ James Manheim