This recording is one that I will certainly return to. I read Fergus' programme notes whilst listening, and although I can notice most of the details intended by Vivaldi I still view the pieces as excellent concertos in their own right. Having thought about it I know realise that any form of programme music is troublesome for me. A piece by Straus that I struggle with is Don Quixote - I am sure this is because so much of the value of that piece is bound up in the storytelling. I just don't have an approach to music that thinks pictorially. All that said, this takes no praise away from Le quattro staggioni - a piece I now appreciate more, purely as music of course, after having engaged in some focussed listening thanks to this thread.
The performance here by Biondi et al is pretty hard to top, I think. The music is played not so much at a furious pace, but with furious intensity. The recording is superbly crisp and all the detail is presented to the listener. I would recommend it...
