Vivaldi's
Four Seasons has been recorded more times than
any other piece in the classical violinist's
catalogue and Tartini's Devil's Trill, considerably
less, due probably to the average sensible violinist's
aversion to playing double trills which are
guaranteed to give most left hands serious cramps.
I
have known and played both these pieces for
many years, since I was 'une petite enfante
terrible' as my father would say. I can hardly
remember but if I had to guess, I would say
that the Four Seasons came earlier, as they
are often among the first concertos any young
aspiring violinist would learn. Being fortunate
enough to have good hands, apparent even at
a tender age, it was not hard for me to learn
the Devil's Trill. Certainly I can imagine it
would be difficult to play this piece with less
technically cultivated hands. It is certainly
a physically gruelling piece for which age and
maturity (and consequently, a reduced stamina
and stiffer fingers) are not advantages!
That
is not the case of course with the wonderful
musicians who have collaborated with me on this
album.
As
well as being aware of the plethora of existing
acceptably decent recordings of the Four Seasons,
I was also keenly conscious that the musicians
in Laureate would have has the benefit of equally
sufficient technical accomplishments at a young
age to have mastered with ease not only the
Four Seasons but even the Devil's Trill. I had
many ideas about how to make both pieces of
music work in a contemporary performance that
would make the music still exciting and interesting
for all of us. Any arrangement had to be relevant
to today's musical expectations and challenge
the highest modern violinistic technical standards,
of which every member of Laureate is an exponent.
Yet, the performance still had to stay within
the true spirit in which the music was original
written, because all of us have a habit of respect
for the way we were first introduced to these
pieces in our early training.
We
have been educated to believe that, in the eighteenth
century, performers would take the manuscript
only as a starting point from which they sould
elaborate and improvise within the conventions
of their time. This is quite credible as very
often manuscripts from that era would differ
in detail, leading one to believe that different
versions would have been performed and then
transcribed either by performer, listener or
even composer. Nothing was definitive, yet we
are convinced that there was a character to
the times, and, certain limitations affecting
the instruments, and the instrumental techniques
of the day, which set the parameters of how
liberal the improvisations could be. We deduce
this from the differences that we can spot in
manuscripts. Comparisons of the similar types
of discrepancies recurring in manuscripts of
different pieces of music from the same era,
suggest this to be true.
To
keep this music alive and interesting, I want
to perform it within the musical milieu of my
time, using instruments, technique and style
from our time which, within my taste and our
present day limitations or advantages, are applicable
to the musical structure of what we have inherited.
To do this properly, I had the help of some
of the best instrumentalists in the world who
represent what today's virtuoso string playing
is about and who I know would therefore happily
allow their musical tastebuds and their magical
hands to be stimulated into action by the idea.
Thus,
this new edition of the Four Seasons and The
Devil's Trill is intimately linked with the
performance and the performers. The orchestral
parts have been specially re-written for Laureate,
the only instrumental group in the world to
be entirely composed of international award
winners. Every member of this stunning ensemble
is a top soloist, a leader of a major orchestra,
or a professor of a first-class music academy
or any combination of these three most prestigious
ways of making a living as a classical instrumentalist.
Each
orchestral part has been adapted to be virtuosically
challenging. In both style and tempi, the parts
also reflect the level of skill and talent of
the players, as well as the sheer range of the
classical acoustic instruments, as we know them
today. With many moments of sheer improvisation,
eighteenth century invention now meets twentieth
century virtuosity.
It
has been an honour and a joy to be able to take
Vivaldi and Tartini to a new level with this
group of musical colleagues. I have known some
of them since I was little. I looked up to them
and they looked after me. They and others have
collaborated with me on tours, concerts and
other recordings. Many, I have just had the
pleasure of meeting for the first time, but
we all felt comfortably united in our fondness
for his music and wanting it to challenge us
again and again.
As
for the solo part, I have made it my own, as
Vivaldi and Tartini, both of them violinists
who also composed, would most certainly have
done in their time. Indeed there are already
many slightly different variations of the most
commonly played versions of the solo parts.
All these are, at best, some possible alternative
ways to interpret an idea of what the solo parts
should sound like. I came up with my own ideas
not to instigate healthy discussion among academics,
but simply to ensure that performing and recording
such entertaining music amongst friends would
be creative, spontaneous and fun.
