If you are thinking,
"Not another version of
The Four Seasons", then I have
bad news for you – this set contains
two versions of Vivaldi’s ever-played
concertos. However, this is the first
time to my knowledge that a purely audio
recording has been packaged with a different
filmed performance by the same group.
The Four Seasons
is something of a leitmotif that runs
through the I Musici discography with
six recordings by them to date (1955,
1959, 1969, 1982, 1988 and 1995). The
two versions presented here are the
fourth and fifth in that series.
The solitary page of
notes penned by David Hogarth that accompanies
this slimly packaged CD and DVD set
claims that in effect the authentic
music movement owes its existence to
I Musici’s spearheading of the ‘Baroque
Revival’ in the 1950s. This may be true
to an extent, but I find that the claims
made for the ‘clarity and vigour’ they
bring to these works are matched by
other rivals on disc. Leading the throng
of alternative recordings are those
by Salvatore Accardo and I Solisti di
Napoli (Philips 4761716) and Europa
Galante directed by Fabio Biondi (Virgin
VMD5619802). In both of these the music
really springs off the page – Accardo
employs a variety of Stradivari instruments
that give his reading a special glow,
whereas Biondi throws any notion of
routine performance out of the window
with his deliciously upbeat and infectious
tempo choices.
What of I Musici’s
performances? That they know the music
inside out is beyond doubt. Both performances
display a suitably chamber-scaled approach
in the playing that is beneficial to
obtaining clearly defined musical lines.
Both soloists play with credit in their
respective versions, although I marginally
prefer the slightly rounder tone achieved
by Federico Agostino on the DVD. Taken
as a whole neither performance is likely
to disappoint or leave feathers overly
ruffled for the wrong reasons. Differences
of tempi between the two versions are
generally slight, and neither version
is consistently faster than the other.
On the whole the reading is more effective
when a touch more time is allowed for
the music to breathe and establish itself
within the recorded acoustic.
Anton von Munster’s
film on the DVD presents a visual tapestry
of Venetian locations, art and people
- past and present - to accompany the
music that leaves one aware that Vivaldi
and Venice are forever unified. For
all that love the much vaunted romance
of Venice the film is likely to have
its own attractions; for my part it
is the inclusion of paintings of Venetian
subjects, drawn largely from the collection
of the Museo Correr, rather than views
of the city itself. All works of art
and their locations are identified in
the accompanying booklet.
On the whole then these
are pleasing if traditionally conceived
performances. Those after something
beyond the ordinary would do well to
obtain other versions. Accardo’s reading
is available for silly money from Amazon,
and in my view Biondi is his own recommendation:
after hearing that recording you might
never want to hear another again.
Evan Dickerson
Pina Carmirelli (violin)/I Musici 
