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Artist: Nigel Kennedy
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Nigel Kennedy:

Vivaldi - The New Four Seasons

In 1989 Nigel Kennedy made his breakthrough recording of Vivaldi's Four Seasons. In his sleeve notes to that famous release, Kennedy stressed that he had rejected the idea of playing Vivaldi's suite of violin concertos in either the "authentic" fashion, using period instruments, or in the more florid "romantic" style. He explained that his objective was to use "every kind of technique I know" to communicate his feeling for the music to his listeners. He didn't believe that The Four Seasons was confined to any particular point in time, because it "has far more to offer than mere historical interest."

Now, in 2015, Kennedy returns with a completely fresh take on The Four Seasons, but while the music sounds hugely different, his creative attitude is the same. Once again he has set out to prove that The Four Seasons is timeless, and in his opinion there's no reason why Vivaldi's masterpiece shouldn't be opened up to embrace developments in musical instrument technology, or even new musical styles undreamt of in Vivaldi's 18th century world. Any forward-looking composer, Kennedy reasons, would have been delighted to exploit the potential of more expressive or sophisticated instrumentation if it had been available to him.

Kennedy's fans have already had a chance to hear The New Four Seasons in concert, so some of the musical innovations crammed into this new recording will seem familiar. Integral to the Kennedy approach is the drum programming of Massive Attack's Damon Reece, which adds a mesmerizing rhythmic pulse underneath the crisply-articulated playing of Kennedy's Orchestra of Life. This hand-picked ensemble of enthusiastic young musicians, under orchestra leader Lizzie Ball, is an extension of Kennedy's own adventurous philosophy. They're willing to follow Kennedy's imaginative flights wherever they might take him, while always keeping him anchored, somehow, to Vivaldi's original blueprint.

Nigel Kennedy:

Four Elements

Written entirely for violin, orchestra, band and voices and inspired by the elements air, earth, fire and water, Nigel Kennedy's Four Elements takes the listener on a multi-genre musical journey of exhilaration, contemplation and celebration. This work is a suite of pieces which Nigel originally conceived as his own 21st-century response to Vivaldi's baroque masterpiece in the sense of creating programmatic, pictorial music based on an underlying theme. A notable new ingredient in the mix is the electronic drum programming by Damon Reece, who has worked with Massive Attack and Goldfrapp. Singers featured on the album include Zee Gachette and Xanton Blaq, a former member of Amy Winehouse's band.

 

Nigel Kennedy:

Blue Note Sessions

After decades of dazzling the world with record-breaking classical performances, the English violin virtuoso Nigel Kennedy has surprised the music industry with a breathtaking jazz recording. He has become the first EMI Classics violinist to be invited into the fabled Blue Note family, with his new album Blue Note Sessions marking the start of a completely new career path within the magical world of jazz. Although a radical departure from his lifelong study of the classics, there are still hallmark signatures of this uniquely gifted musician who has so changed the face of classical markets.