Vivaldi: The Four Seasons

Joshua Bell (Performer)

Product Details

• Performer: Joshua Bell
• Audio CD (September 2, 2008)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: SONY CLASSICS
• ASIN: B001BN1V7Q
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,635 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #1 in	Music > Classical > Featured Composers, A-Z > ( T ) > Tartini, Giuseppe
  #25 in	Music > Classical > Featured Composers, A-Z > ( V ) > Vivaldi, Antonio
  #66 in	Music > Classical > Instruments > Strings > Violin

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Grammy Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell, who has enchanted audiences for two decades with his breathtaking playing and tone of rare opulence, has recorded Antonio Vivaldi's concertos The Four Seasons. Widely considered as one of the premiere violinists of his generation, Bell is joined on this studio release by the celebrated musicians of the Academy of St.Martin in the Fields, who toured the work with him prior to the recording sessions. This recording of The Four Seasons is coupled with another masterpiece of Baroque virtuosity, Giuseppe Tartini's The Devil's Trill. The liner notes by Linda Kobler explain the curious genesis of Tartini's piece and the indisputable place of Vivaldi's concertos in the history of sonata composition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars JOSHUA BELL'S SUPERB, EXTRAORDINARILY PERSONAL "FOUR SEASONS", September 2, 2008

By	RBSProds "rbsprods" (Deep in the heart of Texas) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Five BIG Stars!! Grammy-winning violin virtuoso Joshua Bell, one of the greatest on the planet, steps into the baroque world and delivers an unusually personal, superb version of Antonio Vivaldi's "Four Seasons". This is an oft-recorded work (in the past year alone I've purchased a wonderful version by violinist Viktoria Mullova/Claudio Abbado and enjoyed a very nice transcribed slice of "Winter" by cellist Sol Gabetta in full baroque gear), but in Mr Bell's hands he reveals even more wonderful tempo elasticity and more personal nuances in this classic work by "the Red Priest". On this CD, not only is Mr Bell in the role of dazzling virtuosic soloist and conductor, but he is fortunate to have the superb Academy of St. Martin in the Fields as his orchestra and they have had a year of performances leading up to this august recording.

The entire work is breathtakingly wonderful and should find it's way into music libraries as a benchmark work. My favorites are the third movement (presto) of Summer (with Mr Bell daringly ahead of the normal pulse) which is outstanding and unrelenting in it's intensity, the first movement of Autumn, and the entire wondrous four movements of Winter. It's amazing how the familiar becomes fresh in different hands. Mr Bell successfully pairs the Vivaldi work with a 14 minute exposition of Tartini's Sonata in G Minor for Violin and Basso Continuo (aka The Devil's Trill Sonata) which is a lovely work of elegance and virtuosity, the last four minutes of which are stunning. Throughout Mr Bell pulls off difficult passages with ease and depth of feeling. This is truly beautiful music that leaps into the realm of pure enjoyment and over any possible controversies about period instruments, baroque strings & bows, and vibrato. It took Joshua Bell decades to finally work his way to Vivaldi's Four Seasons but the wait was worth it. Bravo, Mr Bell. My Highest Recommendation. Five BIG Stars (This review is based on an iTunes download, also containing the translations of the very poetic seasonal sonnets Vivaldi wrote to accompany the music.)

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars well played, that's about it, November 13, 2008

By	Claude Greenmount "semper ubi sub ubi!" (The Universe) - See all my reviews

Mr Bell can rarely play in anything but an excellent and clean fashion, and the same can be said of St. Martin-in-the-Fields orchestra. But in the case of this recording of Vivaldi's most famous set of concertos, there it ends. Technically well executed, almost no understanding of this marvelous 18th c. music is evident in this performance-- it adds nothing to the countless interpretations of this music that was not already present 25 years ago or more before the EM (or HIP or music reconstruction or whatever we may call it) movement came to the forefront. Make no mistake, I'm no "authenticity fascist" and do not have any objection to modern instrument performances, even with a little Romantic flair added in, but this is being marketed to us as a "deeply personal" interpretation and it rather feels perfunctory, at times, bordering on the joyless. By all means acquaint yourself with this wor, but there are better, more affectionate and joyful renditions available that may not have overly hyped commercial packaging or marketing driving them.

15 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Lukewarm, September 19, 2008

By	ibracadabra (Bellevue, WA) - See all my reviews

While there's no doubt Joshua Bell is a fine violin player, his interpretation of this work feels awkward at times. His rhythm is occasionally off, and his dynamics are too exaggerated - though his pitch is almost always right on. His emotive style is much better suited for more Romantic pieces, and anyone who's listening for a good baroque interpretation of the Four Seasons would likely be disappointed.