Adrian Chandler’s La Serenissima: Vivaldi: Four Seasons | Album Review

Vivaldi Four Seasons
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Artist: Adrian Chandler, La Serenissima, Peter Whelan, Antonio Vivaldi
Genre: Classical
Label: Avie

Vivaldi-loving Adrian Chandler celebrates the 21st anniversary of his period instruments ensemble La Serenissima with a new recording of the Four Seasons.

The twist is his use of a set of parts held in Manchester’s Central Library, a version he says “represents the composer’s intentions more fully” than the familiar score published in Amsterdam.

The playing is eager and buoyant, and the couplings are first-class, two concertos for the rather raspy violin in tromba marina (using a specially reconstructed, three-stringed instrument), and two highlighting the almost implausibly agile, guttural quacking of Peter Whelan’s earthy baroque bassoon.

Michael Dervan

Michael Dervan

Michael Dervan is a music critic and Irish Times contributor