Dorian Recordings

DOR-90317

ANTONIO VIVALDI: (1676-1741)
THE 4 SEASONS

ARCENGELO CORELLI: (1653-1713)
THE CHRISTMAS CONCERTO
(Concerto Grosso in G minor Op. 6 No. 8 "Fatto per la Notte di Natale")

RED PRIEST
Piers Adams, Recorders ~ Julia Bishop, Violin
Angela East, Cello ~ Howard Beach, Harpsichord

DOR-90317 Cover

This amazing new recording presents an audacious feat of virtuosity, re-invention and rediscovery of one of baroque music's most beloved masterpieces. The iconoclastic British baroque quartet Red Priest has re-arranged these masterpieces for their own ensemble, with daredevil recorder virtuoso Piers Adams performing the spectacular violin solo parts entirely on a battery of different recorders, at times playing more than one instrument simultaneously (!). It's a rare treat, a dazzling musical adventure, and an incredibly exciting feat, yet the conception and performance is grounded in a solid understanding of baroque performance practice and idiom.
Piers Adams writes:
To create a piece of music which achieves unprecedented, householdname popularity throughout the world, continues to live on for centuries after one's death, and indeed becomes the defining work for a particular country and epoch, must be the dream of every composer. Vivaldi's Four Seasons clearly fall into this elite category. …
Ernest attempts to re-create what an original performance might have sounded like have often run the risk of turning the music from living art into a museum-piece, and it sometimes takes a radical new view to re-appreciate the soul of a work. This - rather than shock appeal - is the principle purpose of our recording. …

ANTONIO VIVALDI (1678-1741)
THE FOUR SEASONS ("Le Quattro Stagioni")

Concerto in E major Op. 8 No. 1: "La Primavera"
1 Allegro (Spring has Arrived - Birdsong - A Bubbling Stream - Thunder - Birdsong) 3:38
2 Largo (The Sleeping Goatherd / Murmuring Fronds and Grasses / A Barking Dog) 2:44
3 Allegro (Pastoral Dance) 2:40

Concerto in G minor Op. 8 No. 2: "L'Estate"
4 Allegro non molto (Languishing in the Heat - The Cuckoo - The Turtle-dove -
The Goldfinch - Balmy Winds - The North Wind - The Lamenting Shepherd) 5:13
5 Adagio/Presto (Uneasy Rest in Fear of a Storm / Flies and Gnats / Thunder) 2:10
6 Presto (Impetuous Summer Storm) 2:45

Concerto in F major Op. 8 No. 3: "L'Autunno"
7 Allegro (Dancing, Singing Peasants - The Drunkard - Dozing Drunkards) 5:26
8 Adagio molto (Sleeping Drunkards) 1:31
9 Allegro (The Hunt - The Fleeing Stag - Rifle-shots and Hounds - The Stag Dies) 3:22

Concerto in F minor Op. 8 No. 4: "L'Inverno"
10 Allegro non molto (Bitter Frostbite - Cruel Winds -
Stamping Feet in the Cold - Winds - Chattering Teeth) 3:06
11 Largo (Peaceful and Content by the Fire / Rain Outside) 2:58
12 Allegro (Walking Cautiously on Ice - Falling Down - Running Swiftly -
The Ice Breaks - The Sirocco Wind - All the Winds at War) 2:52

ARCANGELO CORELLI (1653-1713)
THE CHRISTMAS CONCERTO
(Concerto Grosso in G minor Op. 6 No. 8 "Fatto per la Notte di Natale")
13 Vivace 0:09
14 Grave 1:10
15 Allegro 1:24
16 Adagio/Allegro/Adagio 2:59
17 Vivace 1:26
18 Allegro 1:10
19 Pastorale 2:57

Total Program Length: 50:33

ALL ITEMS ARRANGED AND PERFORMED BY RED PRIEST

Dorian Recordings & Dorian Discovery
are distributed in Australia by Rockian Trading