Album Notes

Antonio Vivaldi’s “Quatro Staggione” has become one of the most recognized masterpieces in the baroque repertoire, with recordings ranging in style from the ultra romantic to the period instrument, performance-practice informed readings, which have become so popular of late. As with all truly great music, The Four Seasons’ resiliency to various interpretations is remarkable and arguments can be made for a number of approaches to the music. In the end however, it has always been the sense of musical commitment and technical brilliance that have been the common threads of the recordings I loved most. Thus, as we began the process of preparing this concert and recording, the Pro Musicis Ensemble, Maestro Gunzenhauser and I tried not to be constrained too much by performance-practice rules per se, it was more a case of trying to expose as much of the actual musical and emotional content as possible. We also wished to document the birth of the Pro Musicis Ensemble, which I created to assemble a group of like-minded colleagues for performing and recording string and chamber orchestra repertoire. I hope our effort brings you joy!

-Odin Rathnam