Leila Schayegh and Musica Fiorita’s fluency in Baroque music is on full display in their new recording of Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons.” In spite of the simplicity of its themes, Vivaldi’s famed concerto cycle is quite difficult to pull off. This is partly due to the musical imagery that pervades the piece, sometimes in short bursts, sometimes spanning entire movements. In this regard, Schayegh gets points for an enjoyable and accessible performance. She lays out her intentions in a nice set of liner notes that translates Vivaldi’s programmatic intentions (originally given in four short and rather awkward “demonstrative sonnets”) into more enjoyable short stories. She takes moments of artistic license in the stories which reappear in the performance, and it is that creativity of interpretation, combined with the virtuosity to pull it off, that make this such an enjoyable album.
For example, the ensemble imagines that the dog in Spring’s middle movement (track 3) takes it upon himself to do the shepherd’s job while the shepherd naps, and so “barks himself hoarse at the unimpressed sheep.” Lola Fernández indeed plays a very convincing hoarse dog, with sharp attacks on the notes, while Schayegh adds more than a few notes to Vivaldi’s melody, as if the shepherd is restless and fidgeting in his sleep. In the third movement (track 4), the nymphs “float” around the fields, an image which benefits from an especially rich and bubbly continuo, provided by theorbo, lute, psaltery, and two harpsichords.
The group’s Summer is one of the most languorous available, as they imagine themselves out of breath and exhausted. The eighth rests in the first movement (track 5) feel like eternities, as if the heat is so oppressive that the group can barely bring themselves to play the next pair of notes, and the ensuing thunderstorm (track 7) is no less convincing. The autumnal hunt (track 10) is the perfect balance of jaunty and refined, which is to say, the ensemble has perfectly balanced staccato and legato attacks.
Schayegh’s playing deserves quite a bit of praise as well. A Baroque specialist who studied, along with the rest of Musica Fiorita’s musicians, at the Schola Cantorum in Basel, Switzerland, her playing is remarkably smooth and inventive. In the allegros, Schayegh’s phrases are long and not interrupted by the demands of the bow or position shifts. Short, fast quarter notes vibrate with appropriately subtle vibrato. In the Largos and Adagios, her embellishments are expressive and sit comfortably among a longstanding Baroque tradition. In the opening track of the album, “La Follia,” one never tires of hearing variations on the same sixteen-bar phrase, Schayegh imbuing each with a new mood. The Siciliana variation (7’00”) is especially refreshing.
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Few recordings of the Seasons combine such solecistic and programmatic success with such joyful ensemble playing. Rachel Podger’s recent version with Brecon Baroque is certainly virtuosic, and rightfully won accolades for its musical creativity, but adheres more closely to tradition, with Podger less ambitious in the slow movements and the overall sound slightly sparser. Fabio Biondi’s several readings with Europa Galante may be the most similarly creative ones available, but Schayegh and Biondi’s styles are so different — Biondi rather declamatory, Schayegh reserved but elegant — and the overall interpretations so different that it would be fruitless to judge them against each other. Suffice it to say that both should be heard, perhaps back to back.
On this album, Stefano Albarello, the recording engineer and producer, gets credit for capturing the ensemble’s splendid sound, which is clear in all registers, yet deep in the bass and with a wonderful, soft resonance. He also presumably labored to appropriately mix the auditory “add-ins” the group has successfully used for dramatic effect, like birdsong to open Spring, and thunder-sheets for Summer.
Overall, this album deserves a spot on any Vivaldi or violin enthusiast’s shelf. Its originality, gorgeous sound, and impressive solo playing will keep it competitive in the rotation for a long time.
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons, La Follia
Leila Schayegh – Violin
Musica Fiorita
Glossa, CD GCD 924203
Vivaldi The Four Seasons – Recommended Comparisons
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