Goodshoot GS 014 The Four Seasons

The Four Seasons, featuring the remarkable and unmistakeable voice of Frankie Valli, were one of the most popular and successful groups of the 1960s on both sides of the Atlantic, and one of the few American groups to withstand the onslaught of the British Invasion to carry their chart career through into the 1970s. When they had their first big hit as The Four Seasons in 1961 with “Sherry”, they were by no means new to the pop scene and both Frankie Valli and the group had paid their dues for the best part of a decade, honing their skills in a variety of guises on an equally bewildering array of record labels. This great-value 58-track 2-CD set features most of Frankie Valli’s early recordings, both solo and with various groups before they became The Four Seasons in 1960, and then presents their early successes under that name. It comprises selected A & B sides as Frankie Valley, Frankie Valley & The Travellers, The Four Lovers, Frankie Valli & The Romans, The Village Voices, Billy Dixon & The Topics, Johnny Halo, Hal Miller and The Rays, and The Four Seasons for the Corona, Mercury RCA, Epic, Okeh, Cindy, Decca, Topix, Gone and Vee-Jay labels. It also features the tracks from The Four Lovers album “Joyride” and the Four Seasons album “Sherry &11 Others”. Quite apart from setting the scene for the rest of their career as the Four Seasons, this collection of doowop and rock ‘n’ roll from the era when Frankie and his colleagues were exploring the potential of their talent, is hugely entertaining and offers a real insight into what lay behind The Four Seasons’ success.

This is a compilation of Franki Valli & The 4 Seasons' hits, including "Big Girls Don't Cry", "Sherry", and "December, 1963 (Oh What A Night)". Although they were one of the very biggest rock & roll groups of the 1960s, the Four Seasons – unlike, say, the Beatles, Rolling Stones, or the Byrds – don't excite virtually automatic respect from listeners and critics. A big factor is their most distinguishing trademark, the high falsetto vocals of their lead singer, Frankie Valli. Many also found their material – romantic tunes with tightly arranged group harmonies that updated doo wop ethos into the '60s – a little too clean-cut. Whatever your feelings about the group, though, there's no denying their considerable importance.

The musicians of The Bach Orchestra will perform Vivaldi’s most famous composition: the Four Seasons. With the Spanish violin virtuoso Enrique Gomez-Cabrero as soloist. Olga Zinovieva is singing the virtuoso arias by Vivaldi.

Renaud Capuçon recognises Vivaldi’s Four Seasons as “a highlight of the violin repertoire”, but it has taken him some time to add it to his discography. “For years, I refused to play it,” he explains. “I’d heard it too much in the corridors of the Métro in Paris and as holding music on the phone. But once I’d accepted to play it, I was blown away by the power of the music … I realised that it’s famous because it’s amazing! It’s a masterpiece. I’ve now played it frequently with Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne and it feels fresh and new every time.” He has chosen to complement Vivaldi’s four concertos with two sparkling concertos composed in Paris some 40 years after Vivaldi’s death. They are by Chevalier de Saint-George (1745-1799), born in Guadeloupe of French and African descent, who became a prominent and influential figure in Paris. He has been described in the New York Times as a composer who holds a “truly unique place in Western classical music history”.

Antonio Vivaldi's The Four Seasons is one of the most popular works in the classical repertoire worldwide. But Vivaldi wasn't the only composer to be inspired by the change of seasons. Another was Christopher Simpson (1605–1669), one of the best viola da gamba players of the early English Baroque and a highly esteemed composer. His Four Seasons is one of those fascinating works that take us on a musical journey through the recurring parts of the year.

For the second time, the violinist and jack-of-all-trades Igor Malinovsky releases an album on GENUIN. His previous brilliant production of Russian violin sonatas is now followed by a marvelous classic of the concertante violin repertoire: Vivaldi's most famous concerts, the Four Seasons. Malinovsky's violin merges with the instruments of the Dresden Residence Orchestra, which he founded, to form an incredible unity. Everything sounds historically informed, but not dry, musical, but not romanticized. A recording as fresh as a spring rain! Igor Malinovsky was a child prodigy who studied with Vladimir Milstein in Russia’s Yekaterinsburg from the age of six.

With the recent success of the musical Jersey Boys, interest in Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons is at an all-time high. This comprehensive anthology contains 26 timeless classics that Valli and The Four Seasons recorded between 1962 and 1978. Features the timeless hits 'Sherry', 'Big Girls Don't Cry', 'Rag Doll', 'Working My Way Back to You', 'Who Loves You' and 'December 1963 (Oh What a Night)' plus some of Frankie's solo hits including 'My Eyes Adored You', 'Grease' and 'Can't Take My Eyes Off of You'.