Ars Antiqua Austria & Gunar Letzbor - Vivaldi: The Four Seasons (2016) [Hi-Res]

Tracklist

01. Violin Concerto in E Major "La Primavera", RV 269 (Antonio Vivaldi): I. Allegro
02. Violin Concerto in E Major "La Primavera", RV 269 (Antonio Vivaldi): II. Largo
03. Violin Concerto in E Major "La Primavera", RV 269 (Antonio Vivaldi): III. Danza Pastorale
04. Violin Concerto in G Minor "Estate“, RV 315 (Antonio Vivaldi): I. Allegro non molto
05. Violin Concerto in G Minor "Estate“, RV 315 (Antonio Vivaldi): II. Adagio
06. Violin Concerto in G Minor "Estate“, RV 315 (Antonio Vivaldi): III. Presto
07. Violin Concerto in F Major "Autumno", RV 293 (Antonio Vivaldi): I. Allegro I
08. Violin Concerto in F Major "Autumno", RV 293 (Antonio Vivaldi): II. Adagio molto
09. Violin Concerto in F Major "Autumno", RV 293 (Antonio Vivaldi): III. Allegro II
10. Violin Concerto in F Minor "L’Inverno", RV 297 (Antonio Vivaldi): I. Allegro non molto
11. Violin Concerto in F Minor "L’Inverno", RV 297 (Antonio Vivaldi): II. Largo
12. Violin Concerto in F Minor "L’Inverno", RV 297 (Antonio Vivaldi): III. Allegro
13. Concerto in D minor (Frantisek Jiranek): I. Allegro non molto
14. Concerto in D minor (Frantisek Jiranek): II. Grave
15. Concerto in D minor (Frantisek Jiranek): III. Allegro



Ars Antiqua Austria, the group directed and led by violinist Gunar Letzbor, takes on the ‘Four Seasons’ challenge but, as usual with their performances, their account is unusual: an individual touch is present throughout all four of Vivaldi’s Concertos.

AAA’s account is not a re-invention, it’s a re-discovery: all their musical choices, although original and not heard before, are always the fruit of freshness, innocence and discipline, they are never arbitrary. Gunar Letzbor says: “It is almost impossible nowadays to perform Vivaldi’s music without any preconceptions, even if one engages with it only rarely. Vivaldi’s sound is ubiquitous. Or is that perhaps the sound of only a few works from his rich oeuvre? When I played through “La Cetra” for the first time on the violin, I found some typical Vivaldi-isms which I really cannot stand. At the same time, however, I was surprised to find a remarkable body of new features waiting to be discovered.

“One just must not succumb to the temptation of immediately putting the familiar Vivaldi stamp onto everything. I have, in the meantime, formed an even greater friendship with Vivaldi. There is so much to discover amongst his works, away from mainstream sounds. This recording and its preparation: practising in peace and quiet; trying out sounds; receiving and discarding ideas; taking in the texts; rediscovering melodies and, if possible, never listening to any Vivaldi recordings.”

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