Nigel Kennedy’s return to The Four Seasons (EMI, 12/03) was notable for being considerably more restrained than many might have expected – more restrained, indeed, than a number of leading period violinists are inclined to be these days. In this second Vivaldi CD he shows distinct signs of having listened to some of those very players. Certainly a few of his latest mannerisms – indeed many of the more radical ones – seem to owe something to them, in particular a penchant for heavy slurring, flickering spiccati and (in RV548) slow initial statements of ritornello themes which could have come straight out of a performance by Fabio Biondi. His own more personal tricks (which mainly break out in RV507) include (if I am not mistaken) unwritten spooky tremolandi, a cheeky-boy whistling octave transposition and a curious joke where the violin line is doubled by the orchestra.

For some listeners these will perhaps prove irksome, but surely few with blood in their veins will fail to respond to the sheer brilliance and energy of the performances in which they are set. This is not just a star violinist going through the Vivaldi motions with a few nods in the direction of current performing fashions, but a great natural musician for whom, you sense, the Venetian’s music is a wondrous and inspiring playground just waiting for him to romp through and enjoy. The spirit and brilliance with which he does so, in both the musical and violinistic senses, brings nothing but delight, as does the virtuoso support given by the superbly alert and transparent virtuosity of the Berlin strings (can there be a country these days where ‘modern’ instrumentalists play Baroque music better than in Germany?).

In a word, scintillating.