These performances on CD of Vivaldi's Four Seasons were recorded at the Rosslyn Hill Unitarian Chapel in London. The sound is very good indeed and, perhaps, more than usual, one has the feeling of sitting only a few feet away from the players. I found myself hardly daring to cough between movements in case I disturbed them! Andrew Parrott's interpretation of these concertos is an imaginative one and, at its best, effective. John Holloway is the solo violinist in each work and he gives stylish performances. I particularly admire his ornamentation which is well considered and stylistically in accord with the music. Slow movements benefit especially from Holloway's feeling for ornamental propriety—the Largo of ''Winter'' is a notable example—just as fast ones sparkle on account of his clear articulation and fluent technique. Sadly, though, these very considerable virtues hardly compensate for what my ears tell me is a sharpness of pitch in Holloway's playing which at times amounts to being unacceptable. Pitch and temperament are tricky matters and we are likely to hear nuances in a person's playing which to each of us vary in their order and degree of emphasis. Unfortunately, I am unable to trade in my ears for a 'matched' pair belonging to a neighbour or 'on offer' from the local hi-fi shop, which might provide some extra bias, filter or whatever. The problem of pitch is not constant throughout the performance—that might be easier to accommodate—but is sour only in patches. The opening solos of ''Winter'' are a case of what I mean, though I liked Parrott's rather abrasively chilly accompaniments.
If these are problems which do not concern you overmuch then the vigour and intelligence of this reading are to be strongly recommended. There is plenty of sensitive ensemble playing and Holloway's contribution is not at all lacking in fire. The use of varied continuo texture—harpsichord, organ, theorbo and archlute—is an excellent idea; furthermore, Parrott seems to have cleaned up the errors in the 1725 published version, notably making use of the demisemiquaver cello part in the Largo of ''Winter'' and filling the crotchet rests at the thunder-and-lighting passage (bar 45) in the first movement of ''Spring''. There I found the rapid exchanges between first and second violins particularly effective. These amendments are presumably based on the manuscript parts in the Manchester Central Music Library but Parrott, in his interesting essay, makes no reference to that.
Parrott's only CD rival in the pre-Op. 8 versions of the concertos is Trevor Pinnock and The English Concert (Archiv Produktion). Pinnock achieves a more polished account of the music but, beyond that, it is a matter of personal preference in matters of approach. The third of the period-instrument recordings of the Seasons on CD is that by the AAM (L'Oiseau-Lyre) who follow the published Op. 8 text of 1725.
As I've said, the present issue is well recorded apart, that is, from a slight coarseness of sound towards the end of ''Winter''. The disc is attractively presented with a detail of Alphonse Mucha's Spring on the front cover.'