I’ve often viewed the recording in 1989 by Nigel Kennedy of the Four Seasons as the torch-bearer for how musicians and the record companies would deal with the recording of this popular quartet of concertos. That being said, recording Vivaldi’s Four Seasons becomes a tricky enterprise for the modern-day violinist, akin to Coca-Cola offering another version of Coke or another bottled water product. The opus four and nine editions of Vivaldi have been recorded by HIP ensembles, but their availability are fewer in company compared to the available recordings of the Four Seasons from opus 8.

This new recording follows Podger’s other Vivaldi projects, including L’estro armonico (op. Brecon, as it turns out, is the name of her hometown in Wales. She’d go on to concertize with Andrew Manze, another one of the second generation of British baroque violinists, and more recently, she organizes a Baroque music festival and leads her own ensemble, Brecon Baroque. Rachel Podger came on the scene as those ensembles began to transition, first leading the English Concert, then going on to find success in chamber music. I’ve been following the historically-informed performance movement for most of my life, coming to collect recordings by Hogwood and Pinnock in the late 1980s as a teen.

Rachel Podger, Brecon Baroque-Channel Classics CCS SA 40318-76:00 ****: Vivaldi: Le quattro stagione, concerti, Il grosso mogul, Il riposo, L’Amoroso.

Best cd recording vivaldi four seasons