![]() Vivaldi's The Four Seasons are four violin concertos composed in Venice, Italy, at the height of the Baroque era in 1720. That wonderful hint of autumn is in the air, and it's time for Vivaldi. The leaves turn golden, the mornings are crisp, you turn the heating on for the first time in months. The Locatelli ‘Il Laborinto Armonico’ Concerto that follows shows off even more of the same, with great control in the extended ricochet bowing in the first movement Capriccio, stunning double-stopped accuracy in the last movement Capriccio’s difficult string crossings, and faultless shifts in the arpeggiated passages that follow while always serving the music.The great Baroque composer used music to paint an idyllic country scene and gave us a timeless work of art. ![]() Musically refined too are her collaborators from the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, led by Chan Yoong-Han (SSO’s Fixed Chair first violinist), with comfortable performances that are a joy to listen to. There’s a place in my heart for those of course, including the fabulously over-the-top Fabio Biondo with the Europa Galante, but her interpretation has an attractive purity, emphasizing the poetry of the seasons with beautiful, silvery tone on her Guadagnini, supported by a great technique, especially in her bow arm. The fifteen-year old violinist plays to her strengths in the entire Four Seasons with straightforwardly musical interpretations which eschew the excesses of several historically informed performances. Just listening to ‘Winter’ reveals that interpretation has deepened and grown, with Chloe’s solo part ripe and mature and above all, musical and confident. Singaporean violinist Chloe Chua won joint-first prize in the junior category of the Menuhin Competition in 2018 with her performance of ‘Winter’ (you can watch that performance on YouTube here), and this debut recording on Pentatone, taped ‘live’ from performances at the Esplanade Concert Hall in 2022, serves as a worthy snapshot of greatness in the making. ![]() Sometimes it feels like there are as many recordings of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons as stars in the sky. Locatelli: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op 3 No. ![]()
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