Vivaldi: The Four Seasons Luka Faulisi

• Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741): Violin Concerto No. 1 in E Major, RV 269 "Spring":
• 1Vivaldi: Violin Concerto No. 1 in E Major, RV 269 "Spring": Violin Concerto No. 1 in E Major, RV 269 "Spring"/I. Allegro02:57
• 2Vivaldi: Violin Concerto No. 1 in E Major, RV 269 "Spring": II. Largo02:31
• 3Vivaldi: Violin Concerto No. 1 in E Major, RV 269 "Spring": III. Allegro03:17
• Traditional: El Cant dels Ocells (Arr. for Violin and Orchestra by Matthias Spindler):
• 4Traditional: El Cant dels Ocells (Arr. for Violin and Orchestra by Matthias Spindler)02:23
• Antonio Vivaldi: Violin Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, RV 315 "Summer":
• 5Vivaldi: Violin Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, RV 315 "Summer": I. Allegro non molto04:51
• 6Vivaldi: Violin Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, RV 315 "Summer": II. Adagio - Presto02:01
• 7Vivaldi: Violin Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, RV 315 "Summer": III. Presto02:28
• Lili Boulanger (1893- 1918): Nocturne (Arr. for Violin and Orchestra by Matthias Spindler):
• 8Boulanger: Nocturne (Arr. for Violin and Orchestra by Matthias Spindler)02:29
• Antonio Vivaldi: Violin Concerto No. 3 in F Major, RV 293 "Autumn":
• 9Vivaldi: Violin Concerto No. 3 in F Major, RV 293 "Autumn": I. Allegro04:45
• 10Vivaldi: Violin Concerto No. 3 in F Major, RV 293 "Autumn": II. Adagio molto02:12
• 11Vivaldi: Violin Concerto No. 3 in F Major, RV 293 "Autumn": III. Allegro02:49
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893): The Seasons, Op. 37b:
• 12Tchaikovsky: The Seasons, Op. 37b: X. October "Autumn Song" (Arr. for Violin and Orchestra by Matthias Spindler)04:15
• Antonio Vivaldi: Violin Concerto No. 4 in F Minor, RV 297 "Winter":
• 13Vivaldi: Violin Concerto No. 4 in F Minor, RV 297 "Winter": I. Allegro non molto03:09
• 14Vivaldi: Violin Concerto No. 4 in F Minor, RV 297 "Winter": II. Largo01:46
• 15Vivaldi: Violin Concerto No. 4 in F Minor, RV 297 "Winter": III. Allegro03:11
• Total Runtime45:04

Info for Vivaldi: The Four Seasons

On his second album for Sony Classical, set to be released on April 12, violinist Luka Faulisi presents a highly individual interpretation of Vivaldi’s pioneering masterpiece, The Four Seasons.

Violinists from every generation have responded to Vivaldi’s set of four violin concertos, whose descriptions of the natural world broke new ground three centuries ago. With his new recording, Faulisi was determined not to simply ‘make one more version’ of Vivaldi’s work. ‘People rarely examine the composer’s thinking or his vision of nature,’ the violinist says.

As in Faulisi’s debut album, Aria, storytelling is to the fore. The violinist’s cinematic approach to The Four Seasons involved encouraging members of the orchestra to engage with the composer’s onomatopoeic animal and nature sounds and adding percussion not found in the original scores. Faulisi has also opted to splice Vivaldi’s concertos with three complementary works inspired by the seasons: a traditional Catalan melody made famous by Pablo Casals, El cant dels ocells; the haunting Nocturne by Lili Boulanger; and an excerpt from Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons, "October - Autumn Song", a piece of understated romanticism inspired by Tolstoy.

The works combine Vivaldi’s sense of virtuosity with constant outpourings of melody and orchestral colour. The most vivid episodes from within the music range from ceremonial dances, drunken parties and spirited hunts to moments of calm by the fireside. We hear musical depictions of the joys of spring, the trembling cold of winter and the oppressive heat of summer. This venture into Baroque repertoire further proves the Italian-French-Serbian violinist’s versatility and virtuosity while underlining his key strength as a musical storyteller.

Luka Faulisi, violin
Ensemble (oh!) Orkiestra Historyczna
Martyna Pastuzka, conductor

Luka Faulisi
Luka Faulisi is one of the most promising violinists of the young generation. Growing up in a musical family – his father a flautist and renowned flute maker – he started to play the violin at the age of three and was a student under Boris Belkin at the Conservatorium Maastricht, Netherlands. He is currently studying at the Academy Lorenzo Perosi in Biella, Italy with Professor Pavel Berman, who describes Faulisi as “…an incredibly gifted virtuoso violinist”. Leading flautist, Emmanuel Pahud has referred to Faulisi’s “…great instrumental abilities and strong musical expression”. Recent debuts include performances at the Cité de la Musique in Paris, at the KKL Luzerner Saal with the Menuhin Academy Camerata Soloists, and at the Kolarac Hall in Belgrade with the Radio Television Serbia Symphony Orchestra.

Luka’s 2022/23 season highlights include debuts with the Szczecin Philharmonic under Case Scaglione, the Hong Kong Sinfonietta under Ken Lam, the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse under Wilson Ng, and the Orchestra Filarmonica di Torino under Giampaolo Pretto. Luka’s debut recital album Aria, recorded with the pianist Itamar Golan, is due for release by Sony Classical International in Spring 2023. The album will showcase Luka’s innate and prodigious musicianship as he explores much-loved opera repertoire by composers such as Bizet, Gounod, Rimsky-Korsakov, Szymanowski, Tchaikovsky and Verdi in sparkling arrangements for violin and piano.

Luka says, “Being part of the IMG Artists roster is such a privilege that I cannot express my gratitude enough to Elena Kostova and Juliette Vix, who are generously giving me the opportunity to develop my artistic career in this internationally renowned agency. I am very fortunate to work with Elena and Juliette as they are very attentive to my ideas with regards to the repertoire choices for both concerts and recording projects. Their strategic approach, based on their vast experience, and deep appreciation of my personal and cultural background mean that their guidance and advice are entirely relevant to my own context. I am looking forward to this collaboration which promises to be very fruitful!”

Elena and Juliette say, “We are incredibly excited to be working with such a promising talent as Luka. His maturity and depth of artistic ideas are impressive for one so young. Luka’s enviable virtuosity coupled with an electrifying musical personality is tremendously inspirational, and his unique and rich cultural background is a big asset defying many boundaries. We look forward with great excitement to our collaboration with Luka as he develops to the fullest of his potential on his artistic and personal journey.“

Booklet for Vivaldi: The Four Seasons