Sea Of Tranquility



The Web Source for Progressive Rock, Progressive Metal & Jazz-Fusion
  Search   in       
Main Menu




Way, Darryl: Vivaldi’s Four Seasons In Rock

With his recent Underworld rock opera leaving me hugely underwhelmed, hearing that ex-Curved Air violinist Darryl Way was heading back into a more familiar arena was news I received gladly. Long known for creating the band’s anthem “Vivaldi”, which you won’t be too surprised to hear was a rocked up reinterpretation of some of the composer’s finest moments, here Way goes the whole hog and rearranges the entire Four Seasons into a rock setting.

The violinist has, however, stated himself that “You cannot improve upon perfection, which the Four Seasons undoubtedly is...” and if anything that’s the issue; Way deciding that much of the music here is too sacrosanct to consider meddling with. Hence, for long sections of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons In Rock, what you actually get is a few synth textures, a bass line, a strum of guitars and some drum beats added to what, in essence, is the hugely familiar Four Seasons that many will already know and love. In all honesty you’re kind of left wondering what the point really was, because as Way has already suggested himself, he can’t improve on one of the most iconic pieces of music ever and in the end this is just unneeded augmentation.

Instead of feeling like an innovation, or clever reimagining, what are huge, moving pieces become twee and safe. In fact so safe are the ‘rock’ elements that they are barely rock at all and I’d venture that the drama the original piece possesses is swiftly removed in this guise. If you heard this music in a supermarket as you pushed your trolley around looking for the latest deals on detergent or fruit juice, you’d happily tap and hum along, but is that enough to make you pull a CD from the shelves and slide it into the player?

Way performs everything you hear on this album, from the strings to the percussion and for that you have to admit to being impressed. However, in the end, there needs to be more motivation to make someone part with money for an album and then to listen to it on a regular basis. Don’t get me wrong, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons In Rock is expertly performed and lovingly created, yet if I wanted to hear Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, I’d listen to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and not a watered down version that is neither one thing or another.


Track Listing
1. SPRING ALLEGRO
2. SPRING LARGO E PIANISSIMO SEMPRE
3. SPRING ALLEGRO PASTORALE
4. SUMMER ALLEGRO NON MOLTO
5. SUMMER ADAGIO E PIANO ��" PRESTO E FORTE
6. SUMMER PRESTO
7. AUTUMN ALLEGRO
8. AUTUMN ADAGIO
9. AUTUMN ALLEGRO (LAST MOVEMENT)
10.WINTER ALLEGRO NON MOLTO
11.WINTER LARGO
12.WINTER ALLEGRO

Added: September 13th 2018
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Four Seasons In Rock @ Cherry Red
Hits: 1263
Language: english

[ Printer Friendly Page Printer Friendly Page ]
[ Send to a Friend Send to a Friend ]

  

[ Back to the Reviews Index | Post Comment ]

» SoT Staff Roundtable Reviews:

Way, Darryl: Vivaldi’s Four Seasons In Rock
Posted by Jon Neudorf, SoT Staff Writer on 2018-09-14 05:20:28
My Score:

Darryl Way co-founded the progressive rock band Curved Air in 1970. After an on again off again relationship with the band he started his solo career releasing his debut album titled Concerto For Electric Violin in 1978.

In 1970, Curved Air’s debut album Air Conditioning featured the Way penned track “Vivaldi”, a homage to the great seventeenth/eighteenth century classical composer Antonio Vivaldi. To celebrate the near fiftieth anniversary of Vivaldi, Way has decided to tackle Vilvadi’s most famous work the Four Seasons. For those of you familiar with the piece you might know that Four Seasons has been interpreted a number of times. With this more recent endeavor Way wanted to give the piece a rockier bent adding guitar and what I assume to be programmed drums. I will say Way is an exceptional violinist and his playing is great throughout the four concertos but I can only imagine how this disc would benefit from having a physical drummer on these tracks. I also had a hard time hearing the guitar and I think a little more crunch would have added more energy to the soundscape. These criticisms aside, I did enjoy listening to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons In Rock and believe Way does capture the spirit of the original piece. If you are a fan of Way’s work you might want to give this one a try.

A Right Honourable Records release.




2004 Sea Of Tranquility
For information regarding where to send CD promos and advertising, please see our FAQ page.
If you have questions or comments, please Contact Us.
Please see our Policies Page for Site Usage, Privacy, and Copyright Policies.

All logos and trademarks in this site are property of their respective owner. The comments are property of their posters, all other content Sea of Tranquility

SoT is Hosted by SpeedSoft.com