Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi - The Four Seasons cover

Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi - The Four Seasons

Composer
Released

It’s a bit hard to say whether or not this was a good idea but it was a useful idea. Richter revised The Four Seasons, the wedding season’s ace in the hole, by taking out more than three-quarters of the music. Looping what was left and rearranging it, he essentially sent Vivaldi through Aphex Twin and Philip Glass and plonked him in the middle of the 21st century. That said, the results mostly work. What is most impressive is that he was able to keep the overall gestalt of this work—upbeat and clear—and retain it while reducing the music to a bright coil of motifs. Looping is possibly the most important development in the last fifty years, and making classical musicians play through its tendencies is an important step.

Sasha Frere-Jones

Recommended by

Suggestions
Ke I Te Ki cover

Ke I Te Ki

Aki Onda, Akio Suzuki
Alba cover

Alba

Florian Weber, Markus Stockhausen
On Early Music cover

On Early Music

Francesco Tristano
Trios for Two cover

Trios for Two

Molly Gebrian, Danny Holt
Christina Vantzou, Michael Harrison And John Also Bennett cover

Christina Vantzou, Michael Harrison And John Also Bennett

Michael Harrison, Christina Vantzou, John Also Bennett
Richard Danielpour: Darkness in the Ancient Valley cover

Richard Danielpour: Darkness in the Ancient Valley

Nashville Symphony, Giancarlo Guerrero
Monophonie cover

Monophonie

Phillip Sollmann
Steve Reich: Radio Rewrite cover

Steve Reich: Radio Rewrite

Alarm Will Sound, Jonny Greenwood, Vicky Chow, Steve Reich
Schoenberg, Sibelius: Violin Concertos cover

Schoenberg, Sibelius: Violin Concertos

Hilary Hahn, Esa-Pekka Salonen