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.

Recording Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, aside from playing the notes, is no easy task. What is the most important aspect? For the musical effects and ideas that Vivaldi enveloped in the notation to find their way to the minds of today’s audiences, creating the same forceful effect as in the eighteenth century.

Over twenty-five years ago, Nigel Kennedy made his breakthrough with his recording of Vivaldi s The Four Seasons. The 1989 recording earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records as the best-selling classical work of all time and has sold in excess of two million copies. Now, he returns with a new and fresh interpretation, Vivaldi: The New Four Seasons. Mixed by Damon Reece (Massive Attack, Goldfrapp), who also did the electronic drum programming, Kennedy deconstructs this classic piece in a daring, modern way.

Keziah Thomas performs The Harp Four Seasons. A fresh take on Vivaldi’s enduring classic in the stunning setting of Dorchester Abbey

As described by the New York Concert Review as ‘Stupendous…totally original and engaging’, British harpist Keziah Thomas enjoys a reputation of a lively and engaging concert artist. Discover Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, in her new arrangement for harp.