Vivaldi/Panufnik: A Violin For All Seasons
Antonio Vivaldi: Concerto, Op. 8 No. 1, RV 269 ‘The Four Seasons, Spring’; Concerto, Op. 8 No. 2, RV 315 ‘The Four Seasons, Summer’; Concerto, Op. 8 No. 3, RV 293 ‘The Four Seasons, Autumn’; Concerto, Op. 8 No. 4, RV 297 ‘The Four Seasons, Winter’; Roxanna Panufnik: Four World Seasons (2007-11)
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Tasmin Little – cond.
CHAN 5175 (October 2016)
Encapsulating the voluptuous sound of the BBC SO’s strings, Tasmin Little is both the soloist and conductor in this unique coupling: Vivaldi’s ever-popular Four Seasons meets Roxanna Panufnik’s Four World Seasons, the premiere recording of a set of highly inspirational pieces. As a complete cycle, ‘The Four Seasons’ offers a set of vivid tableaux, imaginative, enticing, and wonderfully contrasted, with ample chance for the violin soloist to display technique, sensitivity, and colour. In a podcast interview with Editor Martin Cullingford of Gramophone Magazine, Little postulates that the popularity of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons is due to the highly imaginative concept of the four seasons, encapsulated through the incredible, catchy melody and the descriptive elements found in each season. To listen to the full podcast, click here.
British composer Roxanna Panufnik also employs the same qualities described in her own Seasons tribute, Four World Seasons, written for Little. While three of the pieces are dedicated to the violinist, the fourth, ‘Autumn in Albania’, is dedicated to the memory of Panufnik’s father, the Polish composer Sir Andrzej Panufnik, who, his daughter says, “was born, loved, and died in autumn.”
[Source: chandos.net, gramophone.co.uk]