Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi – The Four Seasons

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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. 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, the parts he does use are phased and looped, emphasising his grounding in postmodern and minimalist music.

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. The album topped the iTunes classical chart in the UK, Germany and the US. 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."

Track listing

All tracks are 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

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 – art direction