THE MUSICAL HERITAGE SOCIETY
Critical Acclaim : ANTONIO VIVALDI: The Four Seasons - English Concert, Trevor Pinnock (CRD)
The MHS Review 377 VOL. 10, NO. 17 • 1986
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Nils Anderson, Fanfare (September/October 1986)
My prior reviews of these performances were full of praise for their brightness, clarity, and intelligence. The enthusiasm remains undiminished; it is still the best original-instrument performance of Opus 8 now available.
My prior reviews of these performances on Vanguard (Fanfare 3:4, p. 173 and 4:3, p. 208) and CRD (Fanfare 7:4, p. 282) were full of praise for their brightness, clarity, and intelligence. The enthusiasm remains undiminished; it is still the best original-instrument performance of Opus 8 now available. "The Four Seasons," which make up the first four concertos in this set, and offered here on a separate disc for those who want them only, and although the competition in this area is great, the English Concert's performance is among the very best, better even than their later digital one for Archiv. Given the two extra concertos as fillers and MHS' reasonable prices, this has to be the buy of the year. The sound is excellent, comparable with CRD's original, and the DMM pressings are first-rate. Very highly recommended.