Saturday music spot - "Summer" (3rd Movement) from Vivaldi's Four Seasons performed by Nigel Kennedy


Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" is a wonderful piece of music, and the performance in Paris in 2005 by Nigel Kennedy from which this rendition of the third movement of "Summer" was a masterpiece.

Don't just listen, watch: I just love the energy, the enthusiasm, the way the soloist and orchestra are not just performing this piece but bringing it to life.

By all accounts the composer himself was superb at performing his own music (and whipping up his musicians into a frenzy of enthusiasm.) As recording devices sadly did not exist in the Baroque era we have to rely on the comments made by contemporaries who heard his performances, which we will never be able to do: but 20th century performers like Yehudi Menuin and current ones like Nigel Kennedy have brought their own interpretations which are just as magical.

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