Title : Vivaldi: The Four Seasons - Janine Jansen
Year: 2004
Genre : Classical
Artist : Janine Jansen (violin), Candida Thompson (violin), Henk Rubingh (violin), Julian Rachlin (viola), Stacey Watton (double bass), Maarten Jansen (cello), Elizabeth Kenny (theorbo), Jan Jansen (box organ , harpsichord)

Description:

Janine Jansen follows her first Decca recording of violin favorites with this highly-energetic set of Vivaldi's four violin concertos, known as "The Four Seasons." The violinist leads an acclaimed group of soloists through a refreshing reading of this beloved masterpiece. This recording is riveting with Janine's usage of one player per part. Absolutely essential.

"This is a delight with a seriousness of purpose that rather belies the star-centred packaging. Jansen and friends offer this ever-popular work in a cut-down, chamber version that grows on you with each listening. The playing is full of vigour and imagination, and the sound merely adds to the appeal ... you're unlikely to resist Jansen's charms for long. "

With well over 100 recordings to choose from, such are the musical possibilities thrown up by Vivaldi's vibrant pictograms that no two versions sound remotely alike. Of the old-school versions, Henryk Szeryng directing the English Chamber Orchestra on Philips (now sadly deleted) still holds sway, although finest of recent accounts on modern instruments is Anne-Sophie Mutter's second DG outing with the Trondheim Soloists, an exhilarating musical rollercoaster ride that surprises at every dive and swerve, without resorting to the grating eccentricity and puerile shock tactics of several period-instrument versions.

If Mutter turns Romantic semantic sensibilities on their head, Janine Jensen might be said to marry traditional expressive values ​​with the textural vitality and bracing inventiveness of authenticity. Jansen possesses the ideal combination of intonational purity and tonal allure, and is beguilingly responsive to the music's shifting moods, creating the uncanny impression of a series of vividly drawn characters passing before our eyes as we listen. The all-star ensemble responds to her every whim and caprice with a ravishing sequence of captivating sonorities that grow naturally out of the music rather than merely being superimposed on it. The recording possesses a seductive autumnal glow that bathes the listener in a stream of golden sound. Forget the meagre playing time: with this exemplary release, the benchmark has been raised just that bit higher. 5 out of 5 stars for performance, 5 out of 5 stars for sound.

12 Violin Concertos, Op.8 "Il cimento dell'armonia e dell 'invenzione"

Concerto No. 1 in E Major for solo violin "La Primavera
1. 1 . Allegro 3:22
2 . 2 . Largo 2:25
3 . 3 . Allegro 3:58

Concerto No. 2 in G minor for solo violin, "L'Estate"
4 . 1 . Allegro non molto 5:22
5 . 2 . Adagio - Presto 2:12
6. 3 . Presto 2:42

Concerto No. 3 in F Major for solo violin, "L'Autunno"
7. 1 . Allegro 5:07
8. 2 . Adagio molto 2:45
9. 3 . Allegro 3:13

Concerto No. 4 in F minor for solo violin, "L'Inverno"
10 . 1 . Allegro non molto 3:08
11. 2 . Largo 1:33
12. 3 . Allegro 3:17

Issued: USA | Decca
Duration : 00:39:00