# Vivaldi The four Seasons by The English Concert



## Bigbang (Jun 2, 2019)

There is a cd recording with Standage (violin) and Pinnock (harpsicord) but this recording appears to be an earlier one from the late 70's. A musical heritage society has a AAD on it and the later one is DDD.

Anyone know how good this earlier cd is? I like the DDD version but I cannot seem to get any past history on the AAD cd. Anyone heard it?


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

The more well-known Archiv DDD recording is from 1982.

Supposedly you then mean the CRD-recording, from 1977, AAD, specified on the MHS release:
https://www.discogs.com/Antonio-Viv...Seasons-Violin-Concerti-Nos-1/release/2125195

Samples on Presto
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7923394--vivaldi-the-four-seasons


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## Bigbang (Jun 2, 2019)

So this recording you linked is the same as MHS? I was going to buy for nothing at thrift store but passed on it. Then I started to research on it and could not find much on it.


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## Josquin13 (Nov 7, 2017)

It's a good performance, but the sound isn't nearly as fine as on their later digital recording for Archiv. Nor is the performance quite as fluid and secure as the later one. I don't think Pinnock & Standage had quite hit their stride yet. & generally speaking, the musicianship in most period ensembles improved & got better during the 1980s & especially afterwards, in the 1990s & 2000s. However, these earlier CRD recordings were what got Pinnock & The English Concert their contract with DG Archiv.

You can listen to the CRD performance here, and do a side by side comparison with the later Archiv recording to see which one you prefer:

CRD: 



DG Archiv: 




Personally, I'd rank Pinnock's Archiv recording very highly, it's in my own top five period instrument versions of The Four Seasons. The others being Giuliano Carmignola's 1st recording with Sonatori de la Gioiosa Marca on Divox Antiqua (which I slightly prefer to Carmignola's later version on Sony, which is very good, too): 



, Christopher Hogwood's with the Academy of Ancient Music--with a different violinist for each season: 



, Nils-Erik Sparf and the Drottinghom Baroque Ensemble (which is less conservative...): 



, and 



, and finally, Adrian Chandler's version with La Serenissima (but be warned, Chandler adds lots of improvised ornament or 'ad-libbing', so I wouldn't recommend it as anyone's only version): 



.

If you sample from these recordings, I expect you'll immediately hear that some of the interpretations are more spunky and less conservative than others. I like to have both views or different kinds of interpretations in my collection, and would consider Pinnock and Hogwood to be more on the conservative side than the others (which isn't a criticism at all).

Others I know like Fabio Biondi on Opus 111 (his first of two recordings), as well as violinist Stefano Montanari and Accademia Bizantina, led by Ottavio Dantone. But I prefer both Montanari and Biondi in the L'Estro Armonico, Op. 3 concertos, and especially Montanari: 



.

I mention all these recordings because if you're going to have more than one (or two) period recordings of The Four Seasons in your collection, you might NOT want them both to be conservative performances, or both by Pinnock. Although I could certainly be happy & content with Pinnock Archiv and Hogwood myself. However, eventually, I'd probably want to have a more biting, 'edge of your seat' interpretation (or two), as well, simply because I rate this music very highly.

By the way, if you're interested in exploring Pinnock's earliest period recordings, he also recorded Bach's 4 Orchestral Suites early on, as well (but not for CRD, it was a bit later in 1979 & 80 and ADD), many years before his later 4D DG Archiv recording, and it's probably my favorite of Pinnock's two versions:

--Pinnock's 1st recording of the 4 Orchestral Suites: 





Or here, per suite, with possibly fewer commercial interruptions:

















--& for the sake of comparison, here's Pinnock's later 2nd digital recording:


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## premont (May 7, 2015)

*Josquin 13* you are making me a bit confused. Did Pinnock make three recordings of the suites for Archiv? I suppose the first set was the one which was packed with the Brandenburg concertos Archive recording, or was there an earlier set?


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## Josquin13 (Nov 7, 2017)

Unless I'm remembering wrong (& I had them on LP back in the 1980s, but not CD), yes, I believe there are actually three (& all were on Archiv). The first was ADD or AAD, if memory serves, and I linked to it above. The second was DDD and in the Archiv box set along with the 6 Brandenburg Concertos, and the third was the later 4D recording that I linked to above, which was definitely not the same as the earlier ones because I recall that it didn't receive as good reviews. But I'll try to find a Pinnock discography & report back. 

EDIT: See my correction below.


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## Brahmsianhorn (Feb 17, 2017)

Standard/Pinnock is my favorite HIP Four Seasons, followed by Manze/Koopman, Von der Goltz, Sparf, and Lamon/Tafelmusik.

Also good listens, if not the ones I turn to for the most enjoyment, are either of the Carmignola’s, Onofri/Antonini, the earlier Biondi, and Alessandrini.

For modern instruments my favorites are the two golden oldies, Loveday/Marriner and Ayo/I Musici. I also like Accardo, Jansen, Perlman, and Bell.

.


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## Josquin13 (Nov 7, 2017)

premont said:


> *Josquin 13* you are making me a bit confused. Did Pinnock make three recordings of the suites for Archiv? I suppose the first set was the one which was packed with the Brandenburg concertos Archive recording, or was there an earlier set?


I've just checked Pinnock's discography, and you're right. I was wrong, sorry. Pinnock only recorded the Orchestral Suites twice. For some reason, I thought the CD set of 6 Brandenburg Concertos and 4 Orchestral Suites offered new digital recordings of the Four Orchestral Suites, but I see now that they are the earlier 1979/80 ADD Archiv performances. (I actually owned them on LP, which is why I got confused.) But my point is the same, his first recordings of the Orchestral Suites were made in 1979 & 80, just a few years after the Vivaldi recordings for CRD (in 1975-6), and therefore, early in Pinnock's career. & I slightly prefer them to his later 4D set (though I'm actually glad to own both). Thanks for catching my mistake. I'll correct my previous post.


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## Bigbang (Jun 2, 2019)

I like the DDD 1982 version as my favorite period version. I also have Lamon/Hogwood/Biondi, and quite a few modern versions. I think I will go back and get this earlier version for a buck. I also have Pinnock's English Concert for Handel/Bach as well as other Vivaldi's works.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Bigbang said:


> So this recording you linked is the same as MHS? I was going to buy for nothing at thrift store but passed on it. Then I started to research on it and could not find much on it.


Just to specify: yes.


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## premont (May 7, 2015)

Brahmsianhorn said:


> Standard/Pinnock is my favorite HIP Four Seasons..
> .


Yes.the golden standard to me too.


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## premont (May 7, 2015)

Josquin13 said:


> I've just checked Pinnock's discography, and you're right. I was wrong, sorry. Pinnock only recorded the Orchestral Suites twice. For some reason, I thought the CD set of 6 Brandenburg Concertos and 4 Orchestral Suites offered new digital recordings of the Four Orchestral Suites, but I see now that they are the earlier 1979/80 ADD Archiv performances. (I actually owned them on LP, which is why I got confused.) But my point is the same, his first recordings of the Orchestral Suites were made in 1979 & 80, just a few years after the Vivaldi recordings for CRD (in 1975-6), and therefore, early in Pinnock's career. & I slightly prefer them to his later 4D set (though I'm actually glad to own both). Thanks for catching my mistake. I'll correct my previous post.


Thanks for the clarification. I also own both sets and prefer the first slightly-


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