Starter Packs

Complete your collection with these curated titles, grouped at a special discount.

Shop Now
Sony Masterworks

Vivaldi: The Four Seasons / Jeanne Lamon, Tafelmusik

$17.99

Details

Composer
VIVALDI, ANTONIO
Artist
Jeanne, Tafelmusik, Lamon
Format
CD
Label
Sony Masterworks
Released
Aug 18, 2011
Catalog #
SONY48251
UPC
074644825121

About

Lamon's playing puts expressiveness before virtuosity, and she ornaments freely adding a refreshing touch of spontaneity. In a hugely overcrowded field, Tafelmusik has come up with a winner.

Recordings of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons tend to fall into one of two catagories. There are the star soloist versions, which spotlight the virtuosic, and highly marketable, talents of the big name violinists. And then there are the period instrument versions, in which greater emphasis is put on unusual textures and more authentic performance practice.

This new disc from the Canadian group Tafelmusik is an excellent example of the latter, and a distinctive feature of their recording is their adoption of a pitch roughly a semitone higher than usual with period groups in line with recent research into common practice in 18th-century Venice. They also make use of an archlute to add variety to the continuo, and the result is a bright, distinctive sound which brings freshness, clarity and variety of texture to the music.

The playing itself is incisive but free of the hard-driven tempi which sometimes mar authentic performances, and is imaginatively allied to the seasonal pictures painted in the sonnets on which the concertos are based (which are included in the CD booklet).

Lamon’s relatively small tone means that her instrument blends in with the ensemble rather than dominating it, highlighting the concerto grosso aspects of the works. Her playing puts expressiveness before virtuosity and is quite beautiful in the slow movements, which she ornaments freely adding a refreshing touch of spontaneity to music which is after all very familiar. In a hugely overcrowded field, Tafelmusik has come up with a winner in these highly satisfying and well-recorded performances, and the Sinfonia and Concerto for Four Violins are pleasing bonuses.

Performance: 5 (out of 5), Sound: 5 (out of 5)

-- David Michaels, BBC Music Magazine

Tracklist 16 tracks

  1. 1 I. Allegro 03:38
    Track
    1
    Title
    I. Allegro
    Duration
    03:38
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Ensemble
    Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra
    Conductor
    Jeanne Lamon
  2. 2 II. Largo e pianissimo sempre 02:34
    Track
    2
    Title
    II. Largo e pianissimo sempre
    Duration
    02:34
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Ensemble
    Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra
    Conductor
    Jeanne Lamon
  3. 3 III. Danza pastorale: Allegro 03:34
    Track
    3
    Title
    III. Danza pastorale: Allegro
    Duration
    03:34
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Ensemble
    Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra
    Conductor
    Jeanne Lamon
  4. 4 I. Allegro non moto 05:25
    Track
    4
    Title
    I. Allegro non moto
    Duration
    05:25
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Ensemble
    Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra
    Conductor
    Jeanne Lamon
  5. 5 II. Adagio - Presto 02:09
    Track
    5
    Title
    II. Adagio - Presto
    Duration
    02:09
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Ensemble
    Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra
    Conductor
    Jeanne Lamon
  6. 6 III. Presto 02:59
    Track
    6
    Title
    III. Presto
    Duration
    02:59
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Ensemble
    Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra
    Conductor
    Jeanne Lamon
  7. 7 I. Allegro 04:53
    Track
    7
    Title
    I. Allegro
    Duration
    04:53
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Ensemble
    Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra
    Conductor
    Jeanne Lamon
  8. 8 II. Adagio molto 02:54
    Track
    8
    Title
    II. Adagio molto
    Duration
    02:54
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Ensemble
    Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra
    Conductor
    Jeanne Lamon
  9. 9 III. Allegro 03:21
    Track
    9
    Title
    III. Allegro
    Duration
    03:21
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Ensemble
    Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra
    Conductor
    Jeanne Lamon
  10. 10 I. Allegro non molto 03:37
    Track
    10
    Title
    I. Allegro non molto
    Duration
    03:37
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Ensemble
    Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra
    Conductor
    Jeanne Lamon
  11. 11 II. Largo 02:05
    Track
    11
    Title
    II. Largo
    Duration
    02:05
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Ensemble
    Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra
    Conductor
    Jeanne Lamon
  12. 12 III. Allegro 03:07
    Track
    12
    Title
    III. Allegro
    Duration
    03:07
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Ensemble
    Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra
    Conductor
    Jeanne Lamon
  13. 13 Sinfonia in B Minor, RV 169, "Al Santo Sepolcro" 04:03
    Track
    13
    Title
    Sinfonia in B Minor, RV 169, "Al Santo Sepolcro"
    Duration
    04:03
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Ensemble
    Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra
    Conductor
    Jeanne Lamon
  14. 14 I. Allegro 03:37
    Track
    14
    Title
    I. Allegro
    Duration
    03:37
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Ensemble
    Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra
    Conductor
    Jeanne Lamon
  15. 15 II. Largo 02:15
    Track
    15
    Title
    II. Largo
    Duration
    02:15
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Ensemble
    Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra
    Conductor
    Jeanne Lamon
  16. 16 III. Allegro 03:20
    Track
    16
    Title
    III. Allegro
    Duration
    03:20
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Ensemble
    Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra
    Conductor
    Jeanne Lamon