![]() ![]() I do have to say that the original orchestral piece, with the richness of the different tones brought by more instruments, and the dominance of melody and harmony which classical music has, over overt rhythm, is full of much more visceral, heart, soul, spirit grab than a jazz version is likely to be, for me. Many years ago, in the brief period when I stopped listening to classical music by safely long dead composers, I came across a jazz version of The Four Seasons - no idea who by, I had mistakenly thought it must be Jacques Loussier, due to his connection with Jazz Bach - but I've recently come across this definitely Loussier version. I'd also avoid the Isaac Stern analogue version on SACD which has very poor sonics, and a boring mediocre performance.The Jacques Loussier Trio - Jacques himself on piano, Vincent Charbonnier on bass and Andre Arpino on drums, here bring their jazz interpretation of Vivaldi's Four Seasons - two instruments to provide what an orchestra does, in terms of melody texture, tone and harmony, and with a much stronger emphasis on rhythm, with that third instrument being percussive. While Lara St John is the visually most attractive of the lot, I am not a fan of her violin playing (and I am being euphemistic here). By contrast, Janine Jansen's rendition on Decca (stereo and mc), played on contemporary instruments, has just 7 instrumentalists in total, and I find their performance light, original and refreshing, and more in the spirit of the Baroque! which is the opposite of what one expects from an authentic instrument performance. I also find it to be, even though played on baroque period instruments, a rather traditional and even boring performance … it sounds whiney, heavy and stodgy to me. To some extent, this is a product of using 'authentic' period instruments which do not generally produce the clarity of tone and articulation possible on modern instruments. In my own view, the Boston Baroque is marred by rather mediocre fiddle playing. Nice and spritely to see such divergent views. ![]()
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