Vivaldi – Four Seasons: Kati Debretzeni/Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

An authentic performance of an evergreen classic. Classic FM Drive Featured Album, 7 April 2014

The leading period-instrument ensemble, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, has never before recorded Vivaldi’s evergreen The Four Seasons.

The OAE's leader - Transylvanian-born violinist Kati Debretzeni - has often played and directed the work live, to great critical acclaim. The Independent commented that she 'may rival Nigel Kennedy in both showmanship and virtuosity.' Particularly, this version of the work accompanied performances in which the OAE fused authentic performance with contemporary choreography.

Debretzeni sets out to highlight the descriptive aspect of the music by finding many more colours and contrasts in the orchestral texture than are usually heard, and the period instruments give the familiar movements a new attack, making the work sound as fresh today as the day it was written.