Antonio Vivaldi, “L’inverno”, Il Cimento dell’Armonia e dell’Inventione Op. 8 No. 4

Fabio Biondi, L’Europa Galante

One of the finest things interpretative musicians can do is rescue a masterpiece from routine and repetition. Fabio Biondi and Europa Galante did it with a work much in need of rescue, Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. Part of the discs’ lack of routine came from what they presented, an earlier version differing in many details: Manchester Version. But Biondi said he evolved beyond it. So with characteristic meticulousness, he prepared his own edition. And with just as much characteristic energy, he dug into it, displaying iron control and electrifying virtuosity. The scores’ pictorialism – barking dog, thunderstorm, sleeping drunkards, icy rain – emerged vividly. No episode relaxed into hazy mood painting. Color and fantasy were tightly held on a rein that allowed exhilaration but not forced sound or overstatement. Absolute italian fire.

  • “Biondi brings freshness to ‘Four Seasons’”, Alan G. Artner, Chicago Tribune