Max Richter: The Four Seasons Recomposed

When it comes to the classical repertoire, you don’t get much more mainstream than Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. It seems dangerous, even perhaps sacrilegious, to tinker with this much loved, immensely popular music. But because it has been played so often and by so many virtuosi, maybe there’s now nothing new to say with the piece. So Max Richter, the contemporary classical composer of music for stage, opera, ballet, screen and concert hall, decided to rework it from the ground up.

His innovative take on Vivaldi’s classic, first heard in 2012, retains the emotional depth of the original while introducing a contemporary soundscape – Richter has said that he had discarded 75 percent of Vivaldi’s original material, but the parts he does use are phased and looped to provide a dynamic, modern twist. The result is a true orchestral work, albeit with some respectably subtle electronic treatments here and there. Reviews of performances and recordings have ranged from the incurably bewildered and damning to grudging respect and outright enthusiasm, so it will be at the least interesting to see how Vivaldi can be introduced to the 21st century …

It’s performed at Dubai Opera by the Kyiv Virtuosi chamber orchestra, led by conductor Dmitry Yablonsky, with the much-feted Ukrainian violinist Anastasiya Petryshak.