Is Vivaldi's Four Seasons the most perfect piece of music ever written? Or is it a cliché of our times (it's currently "the most often recorded piece of any classical music" according to my Penguin Guide to Compact Discs, Cassettes and LPs)? I'm very much leaning towards the former. Switched on the TV to try and catch some Major League Baseball (hangs head in shame ... but I was only trying to find out how Ichiro and Matsui were doing, honest Guv!) when I stumbled on an, as yet unidentified, ensemble playing this music at the Tokyo Opera City. Absolutely stunning. Drew up a stool and just watched and listened. I've often wondered how someone like Shostakovich could be vilified for his music (it was argued, for example, that his opera Lady Macbeth "threatened the foundations of the socialist state"), when, let's face it, no one would know what he was talking about unless he told them. But maybe I need to eat my words because I would argue that if you'd never heard the Four Seasons before and you weren't told the title, you would be able to guess what Vivaldi was writing about.
My Vivaldi CD of the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields conducted by Sir Neville Marriner was stolen (sic) ages ago. Must identify the ensemble and see if they have recorded it.
(Oh, for the record, Ichiro is doing great, but Matsui isn't.)
Posted by Joe at June 13, 2003 12:10 PM'Tis indeed a wonderful piece of music, which makes it such a crying shame that I've heard it so much I'm sick of it (and can hardly eat curry without thinking of it). But there is still a definite difference between the millions of pop recordings of it available and a true performance.
A search of Amazon for 'vivaldi four seasons' brings up 764 results, with the Ozawa, Mehta and Silverstein performances given the critical nod. But look at the first 10 titles listed and you will note how trite this piece has become: Best easy listening classical, classical for children, lullabies, etc. As written, this piece would never put a baby to sleep.
For great compositions, I would rank this along with Mozart's Requiem and Mahler's Symphony No. 8 - high praise indeed for me.
Posted by: DJ at June 13, 2003 02:54 PMIndeed. Muzak has much to answer for. What struck me about the performance I heard this morning was it took me a long time to recognise what exactly I was listening to. I hadn't heard it played with such subtlety and, at the same time, verve. Six violins, one viola, two cellos, one double bass and a clavichord. Riveting stuff.
I see my 'Requiem' is not on my shelf (not stolen - or at least I think I know who has it), but Solti's version of the 8th with the Chicago Symphony is safely there and will be the next discs to hit my player.
Posted by: Joe at June 13, 2003 03:51 PM