It might seem that the last thing the classical market needs, and even the world, is a new recording of
Vivaldi's
Four Seasons violin concertos. But the young (and impressively named) Baroque violinist
Théotime Langlois de Swarte and his
Le Consort here deliver a fresh rendition that justifies the grooves or bytes. It's the program that's most unusual. The performers avoid the usual combinations of other Four Seasons works or other famous
Vivaldi concertos, expanding the scope to a double album that includes both
Vivaldi works and those by other composers. The idea is to investigate some of the proximate and more distant stylistic sources of these remarkable concertos, and to integrate them into wider contexts. It may not be an idea that
Vivaldi would have found familiar, but it is perhaps one of which he would have approved. Thus the first part of the program concludes with an aria from the motet
Nulla in mundo pax sincera, RV 630, that relates to the concertos' key structure. From there,
de Swarte moves into the second part of the program, with other pictorial-seeming or structurally unusual
Vivaldi concertos, but also adaptations of chamber dances from a collection called
Nuova e curiosa scuolo de' balli teatrali by
Vivaldi's contemporary
Gregorio Lambranzi. These are short dances, surely never before combined in a program with the
Four Seasons, and the violinist contends that the popular flavor of these influenced the pastoral scenes in the
Four Seasons. No doubt this may be debated, but the violinist definitely gets points for originality, and the strongest point in his favor is that the sequence of events here makes musical sense. The performances themselves are lively, and a bit delicate with a period violin that seems to fit the music at a very deep level; the continuo accompaniments may be a bit lush for some. The sound from the Metz Arsenal is resonant and bold, just like the performances. Definitely not just another
Four Seasons. ~ James Manheim
