Collection Sablé - 30 ans - Vivaldi - Amandine (...)

Antonio VIVALDI The Four Seasons with the concertos RV 372, RV 390, and the world premiere recording of the concerto RV 578a Amandine Beyer, violin and direction - Gli Incogniti

Another new recording of The Four Seasons? And why not?

‘It was the work’s nature as a visionary masterpiece that prompted us to contemplate “yet another” recording, since music of such magnificence still permits entirely new interpretations. . . . . Moreover, we consulted an often neglected manuscript source, the “Manchester manuscript”, which offers extremely intriguing variants, especially as regards articulation, shedding new light on certain passages.’ - Amandine Beyer

Amandine Beyer has joined forces with Olivier Fourés, a specialist in Vivaldi’s violin concertos and adviser to Giuliano Carmignola. Their encounter made it possible to dig deeper into the manuscripts and record a previously unknown concerto which Olivier Fourés has specially edited for the occasion, RV578a.

Beautiful review on French news

Amandine Beyer is a thirty-year-old violinist whose star is very much in the ascendant: ‘She is an extremely brilliant virtuoso, but she lets the others speak; her joy is neither agitation nor sales talk. Though never capricious, she does not renounce herself, her personal accents, her taste for long phrases. In sum, she is a musician (even in Bach, one might add).’ - Jacques Drillon, Le Nouvel Observateur, April 2007, writing of the concertos of J. S. Bach, ZZT070501

‘The young Amandine Beyer, an outstanding violinist, achieves an unhoped-for synthesis of the mastery of Goebel and the poetry of Kuijken.’ - Philippe Venturini - Choc du Monde de la Musique, March 2006, writing of the sonatas of J-F Rebel, ZZT051102

‘Majestic, gossamer, hypnotic. Perfect in every inflection of the phrasing, which the young soloist sculpts with a sense of space, magnificently served by the recorded sound.’ - Pierre Gervasoni, Le Monde, 24 May 2005, writing of the Chaconne of J. S. Bach, ZZT070601

In the press

Vivaldi Quatre Saisons - Gli Incogniti - Amandine Beyer

We do get the Four Seasons but excellently performed and I would stick my neck out and say I have never heard one that satisfied me better. Michael Talbot - BBC3 radio Cd review with Andrew Mac Gregor

The first of two new CDs of Vivaldi’s most famous creation With so many discs of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons already available, why the need for another? According to violinist Amandine Beyer, who performs here with the ensemble Gli Incogniti, ’It was the work’s nature as a visionary masterpiece that prompted us to contemplate "yet another" recording, since music of such magnificence still permits entirely new interpretations’. This CD also includes a previously unknown Vivaldi concerto, which has been specially edited for this world premiere recording. Classic FM website.

There are several interesting aspects to these performances : the first is a determination to take the programme of each concerto seriously, and make the most of Vivaldi’s effects.... the storm in the final movement of Summer has incredible energy and the icicles in Winter are truly freezing... then there is the number of players used, just one to a part, but there isn’t any loss of sonority : that’s due to the vibrancy of the playing as well as the generous church acoustic. Finally, there is considerable rhythmic freedom in the improvisatory style of the performances... this gives the music an inner life which is extremely attractive, helped by imaginative continuo playing... Martin Cotton - BBC Music Magazine August 2008

Gli incogniti and Amandine Beyer bring a fresh approach to Vivaldi’s masterpiece. But what impressed me most were the two world-premiere recordings on the album, in particular the concerto for two violins which surprisingly has never been recorded before. Nick Bailey - Classic FM

Amandine Beyer, die 2001 im Turiner Vivaldi-Wettbewerb triumphierte, zeichnet eine fulminante Version der "Vier Jahreszeiten", spielt aussederm Konzerte, die noch nie aufgenommen wurden - un legt in profunder Kenntnis der historischen venezianischen Praxis kompromisslos Feuer : grandios ! Sächsische Zeitung Dresden - Freitag 24 october 2008

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