A Classic Account of 'The Four Seasons'

The Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields has only appeared here once before even though they have long been a personal favorite.

So today we make amends by featuring an LP that has some seasonal appeal by virtue of its including a famous performance of the "Winter" concerto. This is of course the oft-recorded and much beloved Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi.

The recording comes from the ASMF's early heyday, 1969, just over a decade after the ensemble was founded under the leadership of Neville Marriner (1924-2016), then the principal second violin of the London Symphony.

Neville Marriner

The ASMF took its name from St. Martin-in-the-Fields, the 18th century James Gibbs church on Trafalgar Square. Here's what I wrote about the group in my earlier post:

While performance styles in baroque and classical music have moved on from the refined and subtle approach of this modern-instrument ensemble, to me the ASMF will always represent a high point in 20th-century recorded music.

The distinctively named Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields laid claim to being the most widely recorded orchestra in the world for many years. Its records were popular for good reason - under conductor Neville Marriner, they were almost guaranteed to be beautifully played and elegantly presented.

From the beginning, the Academy's repertoire was heavily tilted toward the baroque and classical eras.

Concerning this performance, let's hear from Edward Greenfield of The Gramophone:

There is an element of fantasy in this performance that sets it apart from all direct comparison. I have never before enjoyed Vivaldi so much, but I can imagine some will prefer a severer approach...

Continually one seems to be hearing this scoring for the very first time, and the delicacy of rhythmic pointing (as in the opening movement of "Autumn") is even more striking than one expects from the superb St Martin's ensemble...

In keeping with the whole performance Alan Loveday, the soloist, may use a rich tone, but neither he nor the others could be accused of anything like romantic sentimentality. 

Alan Loveday

One more quote - here is Anne Inglis of The Guardian writing about Alan Loveday (1928-2016) and this performance:

The ASMF’s founder, Neville Marriner, asked Loveday to be the violin soloist in a recording of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons (1969); his beautiful, unmannered playing led to sales of half a million copies and the ASMF’s first gold disc. Marriner, a contemporary at the Royal College of Music in London, recalled that Loveday “was better than any of us. I would say that he was the best individual violin player that the RCM has ever produced.”

Simon Preston

Let me also mention another important figure: Simon Preston (1938-2022), the keyboard continuo player on this record. He was a virtuoso organist who was also the choir director at Christ Church, Oxford (as he was when this record was made) and later at Westminster Abbey.

Appropriate to this season (at least around here), listen for the witty harpsichord shivers he contributes to the famed opening of the Allegro movement of the Winter concerto. Just one memorable moment among many in this superb performance by all involved. Vivid recording, as well.

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