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Antonio VIVALDI (1678–1741)
Le quattro Stagioni: The Four Seasons, Op.8/1-4 (1725, edited by Christopher Hogwood) [40:29]
Li ZILI (b.1938)
Fisherman’s Harvest Song [6:33]
Fritz KREISLER (1875–1962)
Tambourin chinois, Op.3 [3.48]
Jules MASSENET 1842–1912 (arr. Roger Nichols)
Méditation from ‘Thaïs’ [6:00]
Antonio BAZZINI (1818–1897)
La Ronde des lutins, Scherzo fantastique, Op.25 [5:13]
Christian Li (violin)
Howard Penny (cello: Vivaldi)
Donald Nicolson (harpsichord: Vivaldi)
Nicholas Pollock (lute: Vivaldi)
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (Vivaldi)
Timothy Young (piano)
rec. 2020, Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre; 2021, Iwaki Auditorium, ABC Studios, Melbourne (Vivaldi)
DECCA 4851824 [62:02]

Many years ago, a work colleague predicted that one day we might have Khartoum, the Musical, on Ice. I don’t think that has yet happened, but we seem to have had The Four Seasons in every format except on ice, from Karl Münchinger’s old-fashioned way which became just a little less stodgy every time that he re-recorded the work, through to recent historically-aware and period-instrument recordings. My preference lies with the latter, especially Federico Guglielmo’s recording of the complete Op 8 concertos with L’Arte dell Arco, a superb super-bargain 2-CD set from Brilliant Classics (Recording of the Month: review), that’s still on offer for under £10. Some dealers seem no longer to stock it, but you can download it for less than £6.50 by shopping around.

There’s also a 5-CD Guglielmo set of those Op 8 performances plus cello and flute (Op 10) concertos (Brilliant Classics 96045), under £9 as a lossless download, with pdf booklet, from some suppliers. Or a 20-CD set of all the concertos and sonatas, Op 1 to Op 10, plus the cello concertos (Brilliant Classics 95200). You could even go for the real deal, the Brilliant Box Vivaldi (Brilliant Classics 94840) on 66 CDs – review – target price £56; again, not all dealers now seem to stock this.

Other favourite recordings would have to include Rachel Podger and Brecon Baroque, especially for fans of SACD (Channel Classics CCSSA40318, with RV270, 271 and 208, also on vinyl (Recording of the Month – review). And Adrian Chandler and La Serenissima (Avie AV2344, with RV501, 221, 496 and 311 - review – DL News 2015/10). The Avie is of special interest in offering the first recordings of two tromba marina concertos and for including the sonnets and translations which explain each movement. Or the DG Archiv recording with Trevor Pinnock which, in many ways, started us down the period-instrument route for Vivaldi (DG Originals 4746162, now mid-price and enhanced with RV548 and RV516).

Since it's with these that my top recommendations lie, surely the new recording must be a write-off, remarkable only for the gimmick, not of The Four Seasons on ice, but of the youngest-ever soloist, Christian Li, winner of the Menuhin Competition aged 10 with the ‘Summer’ concerto, and hailed as ‘a remarkable talent … set for international stardom’ in the publicity material.

Wait a moment, though: the booklet says ‘edited by Christopher Hogwood’, so it can’t be all bad. Hogwood was involved in those break-through Vivaldi recordings from the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and Neville Marriner, still all well worth investing in (Op 3, Decca twofer E4434762; Four Seasons, Decca Originals 4757531; Op 9 Double Decca 4481102) and he made his own recordings of Op 3 (Chandos CHAN0689 and Double Decca 4550782, with flute concertos) and Op 4 (Double Decca 4783958). His Four Seasons recording is rather short value (Decca Presto CD 4101262, or download), but it can also be found in various multi-CD offerings.

So that’s a good start in the form of a reliable edition. And after winning the Menuhin Competition and becoming absorbed in Vivaldi, Christian has begun to develop what the notes describe as a more baroque style. He doesn’t yet use a baroque violin or gut strings – perhaps that will come later, as it has for Nicola Benedetti on her recent plunge into the baroque repertoire, also on Decca (review) – but it’s certainly a start, and the results are apparent in the recording.

I found the Benedetti recording mostly very intense – just a shade too intense for me to award a ‘recommended’ label, though I was right to think that others would like it even more than I did. I can’t avoid using the word intense again for my reaction to Christian Li’s Vivaldi. The adopted tempos are mostly on the fast side. In the opening allegro of ‘Spring’, Li and the Melbourne players are only seconds slower than Guglielmo – more to the point, they share his ability to avoid sounding merely rushed at that speed. In the largo second movement and the allegro finale, too, they again adopt a tempo very close to those on the Brilliant Classics recording. More importantly, they enter into the spirit of each of these movements and the various passages within each, even observing a degree of rubato at times that you might have associated with the older Vivaldi style, but not sounding out of place in what is, after all, a hybrid, not a fully historical performance.

The second movement evokes the shepherd snoozing in the shade, with his faithful dog keeping watch. The ‘barking’ passages are indistinct in some recordings, but they come over very clearly on this new release. That’s a real plus; I remarked on how some recordings level the dog’s part down almost to pp in reviewing a Fabio Biondi recording of Op 3 and Op 8, with Biondi one of the exceptions – review. At less than £10 for four CDs, that’s still very good value, alongside the Brilliant Classics for those looking for reasonably priced period performances. Chandler and La Serenissima, too, observe the spirit of this movement.

But I have surprised myself in enjoying the new Decca recording, not just in its own right but alongside those favourite period-instrument versions. It even shares some of the features which the opponents of the historically informed dislike, including lots of highly accented passages. Try the presto finale of the ‘Summer’ concerto, and you see why Christian Li won the Menuhin. It no doubt helps that he plays the Vivaldi on the 1737 ex-Paulsen Guarneri ‘del Gesù’ violin, on loan from a generous benefactor, though it's not in its original baroque form.

If there’s one movement which merits all guns blazing, it’s the hunting finale of the ‘Autumn’ concerto, which, it turns out, is Christian’s favourite movement. At 3:23, the new recording is only a tad behind Guglielmo and Chandler, and a little faster than Marriner, and just as exciting as all three, with the stag harried to death by the ‘noise of guns and dogs’. The last time I listened to the Marriner reminded me that every time I hear these concertos, I discover something new; it’s the melting ice dripping off the eaves in the Marriner recording. I can’t claim any such epiphanies from the new recording, but it has reminded me why, for all the myriad recordings that I have heard over the years, this music retains its perennial appeal.

The other pieces which round off the programme are played on a 3/4-size violin made by Dom Nicolò Amati in 1733, and a bow by Pierre Simon. I have to say that I found them less interesting than the Vivaldi, for all that Christian plays them with aplomb and genuine feeling, especially in the case of Méditation. Li Zili’s Fishermen’s Harvest Song and Kreisler’s Tambourin chinois make an appropriate nod in the direction of Christian Li’s Chinese heritage, but the second half of the programme is an anti-climax. It would have been better to have placed the fillers first, but record companies never seem to do that.

The booklet tells us more about Christian Li than the music, which is fair enough except that the youthful soloist may well tempt an equally youthful audience to get to know the music. If they choose to stream or download, which younger listeners are more likely to do, they don’t even get the booklet at all, yet it exists in digital form, as witness the version which accompanied my press access. That’s a serious omission, and all too common from Decca. At around £12, the lossless download is only pence less expensive than the CD, so buyers deserve at least to have the booklet. It’s actually more expensive than the CD from some providers, which is also really unsupportable.

There are several recordings of this music on my hard drive that I am not likely to listen to again. This is not one of them. I am still most likely to turn for preference to a recording such as the Guglielmo or one of the other fine period recordings of The Four Seasons, but young Christian Li has made a profound impression on this, his debut recording. With able support from the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, this is a version well worth considering by those not ready to go down the period performance route. The Melbourne orchestra have made some fine recordings for Australian label ABC, but I would not normally associate them with Vivaldi. Now I would. This is music which retains its appeal in performances like these.

Brian Wilson