Etcetera Records: Vivaldi & John Cage — 8 Seasons, B'Rock / Rodolfo Richter 2CD

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Product Details:

• Product Type: Audio CD (2-disc set)
• Brand / Label: Etcetera Records
• Composers: Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741), John Cage (1912–1992)
• Soloist: Rodolfo Richter (violin)
• Orchestra: Baroque Orchestra B'Rock (Belgian Baroque Orchestra Ghent)
• Arranger: Frank Agsteribbe (Cage: String Quartet in Four Parts, arr. for baroque orchestra)
• Release Year: 2011
• Genre: Classical / Contemporary / Cross-period
• Style: Baroque Violin Concerto, 20th Century Chamber Music
• Catalog Number: KTC 1429
• UPC: 8711801014296
• Condition: Factory Sealed

Product Features

• Format: 2 × CD
• Discs: 2
• Booklet: Liner notes in English, French, and German
• Packaging: Digipak (cardboard sleeve), factory shrink-wrapped

Overview

Eight seasons — Vivaldi's four plus Cage's four — placed in direct conversation on a 2-disc set that is one of the more genuinely interesting programming ideas in recent Baroque discography. The concept is deceptively simple: each of Vivaldi's Four Seasons concertos is paired with a movement from John Cage's String Quartet in Four Parts (1950), arranged for baroque orchestra by Frank Agsteribbe. The result on disc 1 is an alternating sequence that forces both composers to illuminate each other. Disc 2 then presents Vivaldi's complete Four Seasons uninterrupted, followed by the complete Cage quartet.

The pairing works because Cage's quartet, for all its 20th-century origin, shares something with Vivaldi's sensibility: both composers are interested in texture, in stillness, in sound itself as material. The movements of Cage's quartet — "Quietly flowing along," "Slowly rocking," "Nearly stationary," and "Quodlibet" — sit surprisingly naturally alongside La primavera, L'estate, L'autunno, and L'inverno.

Rodolfo Richter leads the B'Rock Orchestra from the violin with clear technical authority. The period instruments give Vivaldi's concertos the bite and transparency they need, and the ensemble's familiarity with this repertoire is audible throughout. The digipak presentation is clean and the Etcetera recording quality is excellent.

Interesting Facts

• Vivaldi's Four Seasons (Op. 8, Nos. 1–4), composed around 1720, were among the first programmatic concertos in Western music — each accompanied by a sonnet, either written or inspired by Vivaldi himself, describing the scenes depicted.
• John Cage's String Quartet in Four Parts (1950) was composed using a system in which each season corresponds to a different harmonic "gamut"; the seasonal structure of the work makes the pairing with Vivaldi something more than a casual conceptual gesture.
• Frank Agsteribbe, the arranger of the Cage quartet for baroque orchestra, is the founder and artistic director of B'Rock and a harpsichordist; his arrangement preserves the harmonic austerity of Cage's original while giving it an entirely new orchestral colour.
• Rodolfo Richter is an Italian-born violinist based in the UK, known for his work with The English Concert and other period ensembles; his leadership style from the violin stand gives B'Rock's Vivaldi a particular directness.
• B'Rock (Belgian Baroque Orchestra Ghent), founded in 2005, has become one of the most active and recorded period ensembles in Belgium; its catalogue spans Baroque opera, oratorio, and instrumental music.
• The Four Seasons is the single most recorded work in classical music history; this B'Rock / Richter account earns its place by the genuine novelty and musical success of the Cage pairing rather than by competing with the vast field of conventional recordings.

Track Listing

CD 1 — Interleaved programme:

• Vivaldi: Four Seasons No. 1, La primavera, Op. 8/1 RV 269
• Cage: String Quartet in Four Parts — Quietly flowing along
• Vivaldi: Four Seasons No. 2, L'estate, Op. 8/2 RV 315
• Cage: String Quartet in Four Parts — Slowly rocking
• Vivaldi: Four Seasons No. 3, L'autunno, Op. 8/3 RV 293
• Cage: String Quartet in Four Parts — Nearly stationary
• Vivaldi: Four Seasons No. 4, L'inverno, Op. 8/4 RV 297
• Cage: String Quartet in Four Parts — Quodlibet

CD 2 — Complete works separately:

• Vivaldi: Four Seasons Nos. 1–4 (complete, Op. 8/1–4)
• Cage: String Quartet in Four Parts (complete)

\Cage arr. for baroque orchestra by Frank Agsteribbe*

Publishers

© & ℗ 2011 Coda BVBA. Distributed by Codaex. Released on Etcetera Records, KTC 1429.

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