Max Richter: The New Four Seasons - Vivaldi Recomposed

by Max Richter, Elena Urioste, Chineke! Orchestra

Overview

Max Richter's 2012 Recomposed album was an enormous success, topping charts in many countries (not just the usual classical-oriented ones) and making its way onto numerous soundtracks, including that for the television series Bridgerton. For those rare souls who haven't encountered it, it was a sort of contemporary remake of Vivaldi's Four Seasons violin concertos, using the originals as thematic source material to a greater or lesser degree and subjecting them to electronic treatment. It has become almost as ubiquitous as the concertos on which it was based. Now, Richter has remade Recomposed, even recomposing it a bit; the new album is just under four minutes shorter than its predecessor. He also recruits London's ethnically diverse Chineke! Orchestra, gives them gut-stringed period instruments on which to play (the players were using these for the first time, and this works quite a bit better than you might expect), and collaborates with a new violinist, the wirier Elena Urioste in place of Daniel Hope, and also uses "period" electronics, playing a vintage Moog synthesizer himself. Deutsche Grammophon's notes reassure classical listeners that they may not recognize the difference between the Moog and the earlier contemporary electronics, and perhaps this is a problem as well for the many young electronic music fans who have come to Richter, but for anyone around in the 1970s, Richter's bass lines and sonic washes will be quite recognizable. Is Richter simply trying to milk his original concept? Maybe, but in a sense, this was and remains the point. Richter has written that he wanted to use period instruments on the original Recomposed recording but couldn't interest recording companies in the idea. They add a fresh wrinkle to the sound, and the whole new project is an intriguing attempt to see what remains of Vivaldi in an era when music evolves through remixes and through sampling of earlier material rather than being fixed and discrete. There is even a "Levitation Mix" of the "Spring 1" movement, as if to say that the process will continue beyond its latest iteration. It's safe to say that this release has something to offer even to those who know the original Recomposed album well, or for that matter, who know the original Four Seasons well. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	06/10/2022
Label:	Deutsche Grammophon
UPC:	0028948627691
Rank:	75734

Tracks

1. The New Four Seasons - Vivaldi Recomposed~Spring 0
2. The New Four Seasons - Vivaldi Recomposed~Spring 1
3. The New Four Seasons - Vivaldi Recomposed~Spring 2
4. The New Four Seasons - Vivaldi Recomposed~Spring 3
5. The New Four Seasons - Vivaldi Recomposed~Summer 1
6. The New Four Seasons - Vivaldi Recomposed~Summer 2
7. The New Four Seasons - Vivaldi Recomposed~Summer 3
8. The New Four Seasons - Vivaldi Recomposed~Autumn 1
9. The New Four Seasons - Vivaldi Recomposed~Autumn 2
10. The New Four Seasons - Vivaldi Recomposed~Autumn 3
11. The New Four Seasons - Vivaldi Recomposed~Winter 1
12. The New Four Seasons - Vivaldi Recomposed~Winter 2
13. The New Four Seasons - Vivaldi Recomposed~Winter 3

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Elena Urioste   Primary Artist,Violin
Max Richter   Primary Artist
Chineke! Orchestra   Primary Artist,Orchestra

Technical Credits

Malini Vaja   Photography
Danielle Wade   Managing Director
Nicole Maurer   A&R
Rafael Walchshofer   Coordination
Nicole Albring   Creative Producer
Anush Alimirzaie   A&R
Jennifer McCord   Photography
Hans-Christian Lohs   Product Manager
Rebecca Drake-Brockman   Studio Manager
Yulia Mahr   Executive Producer
Clemency Burton-Hill   Liner Notes
William Foster   Facility Consultant
Christian Badzura   Executive Producer
Alice Bennett   Engineer,Editing
Goetz Michael Rieth   Mastering
Antonio Vivaldi   Original Material
Rupert Coulson   Engineer,Mixing
Rob Ashbridge   Composer's Assistant
Max Richter   Composer,Producer