Simon Standage, The English Concert, Trevor Pinnock - Vivaldi: The Four Seasons, Concerto for Oboe & Violin RV 548, Concerto for 2 Violins RV 516 (2002)

In their original incarnation on LP, the sound of Trevor Pinnock and his English Consort's 1981 recording of Vivaldi's famous Four Seasons was clear and bright. In subsequent CD iterations, it was clearer and brighter. But in this 2008 Japanese original bit processing issue, it has passed clearest and brightest and gone all the way to transparent and translucent. One can hear each of the 13 string players bows strike their strings and every pluck of Nigel North's theobro or Pinnock's harpsichord. And soloist Simon Standage sounds so vibrant and present that he may as well be in the room standing between the speakers.
As always, the performances are models of the early historically informed period performance practice school. Pinnock's tempos are light and his rhythms are clipped. The English Consort's ensemble is adept, its attacks is sharp, and its tone is focused. Standage is a virtuosic and poetic violinist who finds both the right sound and the right color for each highly evocative movement. Coupled here with Pinnock's 1985 recordings of the same composer's Oboe and Violin Concerto, RV 548, and Double Violin Concerto, RV 516, this disc is now the preferred method of hearing this classic recording.