The Seasons

The theme of the changing seasons has always been popular in music. But it was Antonio Vivaldi who first brought this idea to life, creating his famous cycle «The Four Seasons». This work became not only the composer's calling card but also the most famous piece of Italian Baroque. In his work, Vivaldi invites the listener to feel the beauty of Italian nature across different seasons and, in a universal sense, the cyclicity of life, the shifting of moods in different periods of a person's life. Each concerto is preceded by a sonnet written by Vivaldi himself. The sonnets describe in detail and with humor all the pictures depicted in the music, corresponding to the activities and joys of each season.

250 years after Vivaldi, the Argentine composer and king of tango Astor Piazzolla created his own «Four Seasons». He was able to enrich traditional tango with elements of jazz and folk music. His composition «The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires» tells of the feelings of a small person in a big city. In 1996–1998, the Russian composer Leonid Desyatnikov made a fairly free violin transcription (accompanied by a string orchestra) of this work and revealed more clearly the connection between «The Four Seasons» of Antonio Vivaldi and Piazzolla, incorporating several quotes from Vivaldi's original cycle into each movement of the composition.

Since then, the striking combination of a Baroque concerto and Argentine tango has become a kind of tradition. «The Four Seasons» by Vivaldi and Piazzolla are performed together for a reason. These works, filled with shifting colors and moods, bright melodies, and expressive solo parts, enhance and complement each other.

At the concert, we compared the music of winter, spring, summer, and autumn in 18th-century Italy and 20th-century Buenos Aires. Accompanying us on this journey through centuries and countries was the Moscow Chamber Orchestra Musica Viva (live music — Lat.) – one of Russia's leading orchestras, possessing a unique creative style and versatility in performing music of a wide range of styles and genres.

Elena Korzhenevich — a young talented violinist, laureate of international competitions and participant of popular festivals — surprised and delighted the audience with her solo parts.