Liszt Ference Chanber Orchestra Vivaldi

After a double album dedicated to Boccherini and acclaimed by critics, Ophélie Gaillard and the Pulcinella Orchestra reveal the incredible sound palette of Vivaldi, one of the most brilliant venetian musicians.

Australian-Chinese wunderkind, Christian Li, became the youngest ever First Prize winner at the Menuhin Competition in 2018. Now, he becomes the youngest ever artist to record Vivaldi's The Four Seasons as he presents his debut album at the age of 13, play-directing a chamber ensemble from the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. The album also includes a traditional folk tune inspired by the fishermen's harvest in the South China Sea and adapted by contemporary Chinese composer Li Zili.

The world was hardly clamoring for another recording of Vivaldi's Four Seasons violin concertos, but the Australian Chamber Orchestra has evolved into one of the world's top concert attractions, and it's natural that their fans would want to hear them in this ubiquitous work. Violin soloist Richard Tognetti plays a 1743 Guarneri instrument with a powerfully flashy tone, and he gets a large variety of sounds from it. These are complemented by the inclusion in the booklet of the four sonnets included by Vivaldi in the score (and possibly written by the composer himself).

Andromeda Liberata is a serenata, or two-part ceremonial cantata with a hint of allegorical storyline, given in Venice on September 18, 1726, in honor of visiting Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni. Most early eighteenth century works of this type are so courtly, genteel, and refined that often their common destiny is to languish and gather dust on the shelves of some archive rather than be promoted and performed. Andromeda Liberata is an exception in that parts of it are traceable to the pen of one Antonio Vivaldi, whose varied and outstanding contribution to other types of works, including opera, are well noted elsewhere. Vivaldi, however, is not solely responsible for the score; although the musicological jury is still out on many sections contained within Andromeda Liberata, among the suspect roster may be found other prominent names (Tomaso Albinoni, Nicola Porpora, and Antonio Lotti) and some lesser ones (Giovanni Porta and Antonino Biffi).

This EMI release of The Four Seasons gives violinist Sarah Chang top billing (as would be expected) and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra a smaller, less significant listing. As far as the quality of performance goes, however, Orpheus should absolutely be considered the star of this recording with Chang getting the footnote instead. This is simply not the case; from the ridiculously posed glamour photos filling the liner notes to the balance of the performance itself, this album is all about Chang. The most fulfilling aspects are the orchestral tuttis. Orpheus is truly at its best here, playing with as much energy and passion as the much ballyhooed recording with the Venice Baroque Orchestra.

Renowned, American born violinist & conductor, Yehudi Menuhin was a vegetarian and committed supporter of many social and environmental causes, with a great interest in Yoga and eastern religion. He was considered one of the greatest violinist of all time and this EMI recording of "Violin Voncertos by Vivaldi" is an excellent introduction to his work Performed by the Polish Chamber Orchestra.

Avi Avital re-imagines the sounds of Venice in this vivid homage to the most beloved composer of the Italian Baroque, Antonio Vivaldi. After his introduction with BACH and the colorful, contrasting exploration of world music on BETWEEN WORLDS, on this album Avi presents four popular Vivaldi concerti with the great Venice Baroque Orchestra: Vivaldi’s Mandolin Concerto, the Lute Concerto (with its famous second movement), “Summer” from the Four Seasons, and the A minor Violin Concerto (familiar to violin students everywhere).