Vivaldi - The Four Seasons

Vivaldi's Four Seasons not only remains immensely popular in classical music today, but was also widely circulated during the composer's era. These concertos, illustrating the seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter, are considered exemplary programme music works from the Baroque period.

The Four Seasons revolutionized musical conception, representing flowing creeks, singing birds of various kinds, a shepherd with his barking dog, buzzing flies, storms, drunken dancers, frozen landscapes and cozy winter fires. Amsterdam Sinfonietta's artistic director Candida Thompson takes on the virtuoso solo part in these four concertos.

Pietro Locatelli is celebrated as one of the founders of modern violin virtuosity. He towers above his contemporaries as an eminent violinist and pioneer with an innovative approach to the instrument. Characterized by grace and elegance, Locatelli's Concerto Grosso in C minor gives the orchestra the opportunity to shine in short, solo passages. The concerto concludes with Béla Bartók's Divertimento for string orchestra , a composition deeply rooted in the classical and Hungarian music tradition. Composed in 1939, this work reflects Bartók's fascination with folk music and rhythmic complexity.