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Daniel Hope – For Seasons

Highly creative and intelligent programming with superb performances from a gifted violinist.
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Sometimes the chore of reviewing turns to delight. I have heard recordings and performances of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons beyond number, but this one, performed by violinist Daniel Hope with members of the Zurich Chamber Orchestra and guests as recorded last year by Deutsche Grammophon, is something special. It is rounded out with a selection of shorter compositions, some of them arrangements by Hope himself.

Daniel Hope is a gifted and intelligent musician with a long history of performing Le quattro stagioni. Immediately noticeable is that his rhetoric is distilled, clear and engaging in every bar. Ornamentation is expressive, historically informed and elegant (particularly in the Largo of La primavera, Adagio of L’estate and the sublime Adagio molto of L’autunno), and the pace of each movement and feeling is thoughtful and attractive (an example being the 90-second Largo – La pioggia (Rain) from L’inverno). Hope’s sound and aesthetic is refined, reminding me of the great Itzhak Perlman. As leader of the Zurich Chamber Orchestra since last year, Hope is rewarded by a superbly expressive and refined continuo section in Naoki Kitaya, harpsichord, and Emanuele Forni, theorbo and Baroque guitar.

The other works following the Vivaldi supply a link to the tradition of the seasonal calendar of medieval piety, perhaps a reference to Trés Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, by bringing it from the Baroque through to the present day in a series of pieces selected to depict the moods of each month in the northern hemisphere. In the liner notes, each month is provided with a particular artwork (some more interesting than others) selected so listeners may contemplate each picture while hearing the recording and reading personal statements included by Daniel Hope. Here he is joined by an array of distinguished artists including Jacques Ammon and Chilly Gonzales, piano and Anna Lucia Richter, a glorious soprano voice, who contributes a Bach Cantata aria. French Baroque Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Danse des Sauvages from Les Indes galantes is a real treat followed by Spring 1 from Recomposed: Vivaldi, The Four Seasons by German composer, Max Richter, a powerful, contemporary and attractive reflection on the work of Vivaldi.

Daniel Hope is a richly imaginative artist and this is a personal statement from him. His dedication of the recording “to four of the most original ‘seasons’, all of whom departed in 2016: Pierre Boulez, David Bowie, Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Roger Willemsen” declares his commitment as a man for all seasons.

Very highly recommended.

4 ½ stars out of 5

Daniel Hope, For Seasons
Deutsche Grammophon
479 6922

David Barmby
About the Author
David Barmby is former head of artistic planning of Musica Viva Australia, director of music at St James' Anglican Church, King Street, artistic administrator of Bach 2000 (Melbourne Festival), the Australian National Academy of Music and Melbourne Recital Centre.