Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi - The Four Seasons

Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi - The Four Seasons
Studio album by Max Richter
Released	August 31, 2012
Recorded	March 12, 2012 March 13, 2012
Studio	B-Sharp (Berlin, Germany)
Genre	Contemporary classical post-minimalist baroque
Length	43:58
Label	Universal Deutsche Grammophon
Producer	Max Richter
Max Richter chronology
Infra (2010) Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi - The Four Seasons (2012) Sleep (2015)
Alternative cover
2014 Deutsche Grammophon cover
Alternative cover
2014 Deutsche Grammophon cover

Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi - The Four Seasons is the 2012 album by neo-classical composer Max Richter, released on August 31, 2012 on Universal Classics and Jazz (Germany), a division of Universal Music Group, and Deutsche Grammophon.^[1] The album is a complete recomposition and reinterpretation of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons.

Although Richter said that he had discarded 75% of Vivaldi's original material,^[2] the parts he does use are phased and looped, emphasising his grounding in postmodern and minimalist music.^[3]

The album is a collaboration between Max Richter, Daniel Hope, the Konzerthaus Kammerorchester Berlin symphony orchestra, and André de Ridder.

On the album, Daniel Hope plays the "Ex-Lipinski" violin, an instrument made by Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù in 1742 and made available to the violinist by an anonymous German family.

Release

Richter’s recomposed version of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons was premiered in the UK at the Barbican Centre on 31 October 2012, performed by the Britten Sinfonia, conducted by André de Ridder and with violinist Daniel Hope.^[4] The album topped the iTunes classical chart in the UK, Germany and the US.^[5] The US launch concert in New York at Le Poisson Rouge was recorded by NPR and streamed.

Critical reception

Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi - The Four Seasons received widespread acclaim from contemporary classical music critics.

Ivan Hewett of The Telegraph gave the album a very positive review, stating, "As you would expect of a composer who once studied with the great modernist Luciano Berio, Richter is very self-aware. He notices that his own taste in repeating patterns doesn’t mesh with the apparently similar patterns in Vivaldi. They obey a different logic, and the friction between them generates a fascinatingly ambiguous colour. Richter teases out and heightens this colour, sometimes with Vivaldi uppermost, sometimes himself. It is a subtle and often moving piece of work, which suggests that after years of tedious disco and trance versions of Mozart, the field of the classical remix has finally become interesting."^[6]

Track listing

All tracks written by Max Richter. 

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Spring 0"	0:42
2.	"Spring 1"	2:31
3.	"Spring 2"	3:19
4.	"Spring 3"	3:09
5.	"Summer 1"	4:11
6.	"Summer 2"	3:59
7.	"Summer 3"	5:01
8.	"Autumn 1"	5:42
9.	"Autumn 2"	3:08
10.	"Autumn 3"	1:45
11.	"Winter 1"	3:01
12.	"Winter 2"	2:51
13.	"Winter 3"	4:39
Total length:		43:58

Electronic Soundscapes by Max Richter
No.	Title	Length
14.	"Shadow 1"	3:53
15.	"Shadow 2"	2:30
16.	"Shadow 3"	3:33
17.	"Shadow 4"	2:33
18.	"Shadow 5"	3:01
Total length:		59:28

Remixes
Track listing
No.	Title	Length
19.	"Spring 1" (Max Richter Remix)	4:58
20.	"Summer 3" (Robot Koch Remix)	3:28
21.	"Autumn 3" (Fear of Tigers Remix - Radio Edit)	4:06
22.	"Winter 3" (NYPC Remix)	4:59
Total length:		76:59

Personnel

Main personnel

Max Richter – composer, mixing, producer, quotation author André de Ridder – conductor Daniel Hope – primary artist, violin [solo] Raphael Alpermann – harpsichord Konzerthaus Kammerorchester Berlin – orchestra Alexander Kahl – cello David Drost – cello Nerina Mancini – cello Ying Guo – cello Ernst-Martin Schmidt – viola Felix Korinth – viola Katja Plagens – viola Matthias Benker – viola

Alicia Lagger – violin [first] Christoph Kulicke – violin [first] Karoline Bestehorn – violin [first] Sayako Kusaka – violin [first], concertmaster Cornelia Dill – violin [second] Jana Krämer – violin [second] Johannes Jahnel – violin [second] Ulrike Töppen – violin [second] Ronith Mues – harp Georg Schwärsky – double bass Jorge Villar Paredes – double bass Sandor Tar – double bass

Additional personnel

• Antonio Vivaldi – original material
• Felix Feustel – product manager
• Neil Hutchinson – recording engineer, mixing
• Christian Kellersmann – original concept
• Nick Kimberley – liner notes
• Götz-Michael Rieth - mastering engineer
• Mandy Parnell – mastering engineer
• Matthias Schneider – project manager
• Erik Weiss – photography
• Jenni Whiteside – editing
• Double Standards^[7] – art direction

References

1. Recomposed by Max Richter - Antonio Vivaldi - Die vier Jahreszeiten - The Four Seasons: Deutsche Grammophon Catalog
2. "Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi, The Four Seasons". Retrieved 27 December 2012.
3. Tania Halban (28 November 2012). "Recomposed or refragmented?". Retrieved 1 February 2013.
4. "Max Richter: Vivaldi Recomposed". 31 October 2012. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
5. "RECOMPOSED | Chart-Erfolg für Max Richters "Vivaldi Recomposed" in den USA | News". Klassikakzente.de. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
6. The Telegraph: Vivaldi remixed: classical music reinvents itself