This is a performance that the major labels have been striving to achieve (and failing miserably to accomplish): attempting to cross the classics with modern sensibilities. Red Priest plays this music with a sense of verve and élan, and, in the process, has created a true crossover recording.
Soundstage

Extends the very limits of virtuosity ... for sheer imagination it's unbeatable
BBC Music Magazine

Startlingly fertile imagination ... enormously entertaining while genuinely capable of saying something about the music. Everything is carried out with a creative and instrumental virtuosity which demands respect. Red Priest are having fun with these old favourites, but it is unpretentious fun, and, most importantly, it is dished up by people who know how this music works and whose affection for the subject of their witty and anarchic fooling is never in doubt.
Gramophone

Sensational ... Completely wild and deeply imaginative, the album marries the work to the spirit of baroque spectacle and Venetian skulduggery.
Music Week

This new version of The Four Seasons will certainly open your mind ... like it or loathe it (I'm firmly of the former camp, I'm slightly embarrased to say!), it's all great fun.
Early Music Review

Red Priest, the notorious British quartet of wags and mischief-makers, the Spike Joneses of the Baroque ... consists of serious musicians who perform with great skill. Parts of it are quite lovely, other parts completely exciting. This is an album that rises above its qualities of novelty.
Go Memphis

A wholly irreverent and highly enlightened approach to the piece we all love to hate ... Red Priest puts the viva in Vivaldi.
Strings Magazine

Engaging, vexing and exciting ... Their performance is less a Monet than a Jackson Pollock ... as ever with Red Priest one is, rather like going down to the woods, in for a big surprise.
Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International

Red Priest field a line-up of various recorders, violin, cello and harpsichord ….massive imagination has been used to make Vivaldi's original scoring fit. The musicianship certainly is impressive.
The Times

A red-hot wicked sense of humour….provides the listener with an experience as fresh as spring strawberry bursting on the roof of your mouth……a splendid baroque gift that will be praised as visionary and heretical in the same breath….Good show!
All About Jazz

...a sensational re-interpretation of Vivaldi’s popular masterpiece.
New Classics

...the playing is amazing, particularly the recorder playing from Piers Adams - incredible stuff! The effects that Red Priest bring about are also quite amazing. The bird sounds, for example, in the first movement of Spring, which bring to mind Papageno in the Magic Flute.

Em Marshall, MusicWeb International

REINVENTING THE FOUR SEASONS
In choosing to name our group Red Priest it was inevitable that sooner or later we would turn our attention to the most celebrated work by the original Red Priest, Antonio Vivaldi. Excited by the colourful, dramatic nature of the Four Seasons, we grappled for many months with the practical issue of how to adapt for four players a work composed for violin soloist and full string orchestra, without producing a pale copy of the original – a pointless exercise given the number of fine recordings already available.

Certainly there are precedents for this kind of re-working - including an 18th century arrangement of the Seasons by Nicholas Chedeville for a very similar line-up to our own - and we soon found that there are many advantages to working with smaller forces. What may be lacking in solo/orchestra contrast, or in sheer body of sound, can be compensated for with some very ‘baroque’ (that is, extravagant and irregular) extremes of tempo and rubato, which would be impossible to achieve with larger numbers. The restrictions of our medium also became opportunities to think ‘out of the box’, and we went with the musical flow wherever that took us – always with the goal of bringing out Vivaldi’s scene-painting as vividly as possible. Transferring much of the solo violin line onto the recorder – a move which required the development of several new sizes of instrument to fit the keys and range of the original – resulted in an instant change to the colour of the work.

The majority of our techniques and improvisations are based on musicological research (visit the ‘Philosophy’ page at www.redpriest.com for examples) – although others are our own inventions, presented in the free and creative spirit (rather than the letter) of the baroque!

The sonnets which accompany the original publication of the Four Seasons describe the sights and sounds of a year in the Italian countryside, and are cross-referenced throughout the score. The following is an informal commentary is based on these texts – with one or two of our own additions to the story [track times in brackets]:

Spring

1. The scene is set with improvised birdsong, using the instruments in unconventional ways, and a preview of the main theme on the harpsichord [0.11]. Vivaldi’s joyful song [0.29] celebrates the arrival of spring. More birdsong follows [0.50], employing Vivaldi’s patterns in a natural and random fashion. A stream trickles over the keys of the harpsichord [1.30], before the weather turns stormy [1.54]. Birds reappear tentatively as the spring tempest comes to an end [2.26].

2. Accompanied by the barking of his dog (harpsichordist Howard on his old school violin) and the gentle waving of the spring grasses (cello and violin) a shepherd plays a serene melody on his recorder.

3. A rustic dance follows, complete with bagpipes.


Summer

4. The sun shines fiercely throughout our extended opening, causing earth to crack and man and beast to wilt in the heat. A cuckoo sings [1.34] – in our arrangement a chorus of cuckoos, to an accompaniment inspired by modern-day minimalists. A dove coos softly [2.28] and a nightingale chirps [2.53 - on a tiny garklein recorder] before a summer breeze begins to blow [3.05], gaining strength and becoming quite violent. The shepherd-boy cries out in fear of the ensuing storm [3.48], his dog barking Waltz-like at his side, before the winds return [4.39].

5. For a while all is calm, and the shepherd (recorder) tries to sleep in the meadow – but his dreams are disturbed by the sound of mosquitoes (harpsichord) and bursts of thunder (strings).

6. The shepherd’s fears are justified as the summer storm breaks. Wind, rain, hail, thunder and lightening characterise this turbulent movement. During a momentary break in the storm a stray bumble bee can be heard [1.48].


Autumn

7. The scene moves to a large barn, in which a celebration for the successful harvest is in full swing. The dance band plays – a peasant fiddler sneakily modifying Vivaldi’s harmony [0.04], and a piper responding by juggling two recorders at once [0.28]. Wine begins to flow and a drunkard swaggers in [0.59]. As more join the intoxicated merriment a happy chaos ensues. The revellers pass out briefly [3.29] before a patriotic keyboardist rudely wakes everyone up for the final dance [4.45].

8. Later that night all is calm, as everyone sleeps off the effects of the liquor. There are strange dreams to a disconcerting harpsichord solo.

9. As dawn breaks the autumn hunt approaches. The riders play hunting calls on their horns [0.14 and 0.31] and set off at a brisk canter [0.51]. A wild stag sees the approaching pack and starts to flee in panic [1.19]. The hounds growl noisily [1.27] and a chase ensues. Rifles are fired [1.48] and finally the hounds catch up with their wounded victim, which struggles vainly to escape [2.09] but is overcome and killed. Its soul ascends gracefully to heaven [2.26] and the victorious hunt rides off into the distance [2.57]

Winter

10. Icy, jagged chords, played with ponticello and ‘slap-tonguing’ effects, depict the freezing frosts of winter, and the cold north wind begins to blow [0.34]. There is much running and stamping of feet to keep warm [1.05] but the torrid winds persist [1.15 onwards]. During a moment of icy calm teeth chatter noisily [2.11].

11. As the freezing rain falls outside (cello, bass recorder and harpsichord) Julia plays her violin beside a roaring log fire, dreaming of her Caribbean holiday...

12. The action moves to a frozen lake upon which a boy is skating gracefully. Others join him [0.26], taking careful steps [0.35] and falling over in their haste [0.52] before gaining confidence and playing joyfully together. But... the ice cracks suddenly [1.25] and starts to break up - and the party swiftly comes to an end [1.37]. The first breath of freezing wind [1.41 – with string harmonics and whistling] leads to a winter gale [2.11], bringing the work to its chilling conclusion!


CORELLI: CHRISTMAS CONCERTO

We cap our year with one of the most celebrated works by another great Italian violinist, Arcangelo Corelli. His Concerto Grosso Op. 6 No. 8 was written for performance on Christmas night, and although there are no specifically pictoral elements in the work, the lilting Pastorale which brings it to a close is a common feature of baroque Christmas music, representing the biblical shepherds in their fields. Originally scored for a solo group of two violins and cello, with a larger accompanying ensemble of strings and harpsichord, the work lends itself well to adaptation without need for re-composition. As with the Four Seasons, 18th century editions can be found for similar, smaller forces.

RED PRIEST is the only early music group in the world to have been compared in the press to the Rolling Stones, Jackson Pollock, the Marx Brothers, Spike Jones and the Cirque du Soleil. This extraordinary acoustic foursome has been described by music critics as ‘visionary and heretical’, ‘outrageous yet compulsive’, ‘wholly irreverent and highly enlightened’, ‘completely wild and deeply imaginative’, with a ‘red-hot wicked sense of humour’ and a ‘break-all-rules, rock-chamber concert approach to early music.’

Founded in 1997, and named after the flame-haired priest, Antonio Vivaldi, Red Priest has given several hundred concerts in many of the world’s most prestigious festivals, including the Hong Kong Arts Festival, Moscow December Nights Festival, Schwetzingen Festival, Prague Spring Festival, Bermuda Festival, and in most European countries, Japan, Australia, and throughout North and Central America. The group has been the subject of hour-long TV profiles for NHK (Japan) and ITV (UK) - the latter for the prestigious South Bank Show in 2005, which documented the launch of the Red Hot Baroque Show, an electrifying marriage of old music with the latest light and video technology.

Red Priest’s latest venture is the launch of its own record label, Red Priest Recordings, distributed globally by Nimbus. Alongside the re-release of the group’s highly acclaimed back-catalogue – Priest on the Run, Nightmare in Venice and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons – is the brand new recording, Pirates of the Baroque. Many exciting projects are planned for the coming months, including solo recordings from group members, an all-Bach CD, a DVD of the Four Seasons and downloadable sheet music. For further details please visit www.redpriest.com.

Piers Adams was recently heralded in the Washington Post as ‘the reigning recorder virtuoso in the world today’. He has performed in numerous festivals and at premiere concert halls throughout the world, including London’s Royal Festival, Wigmore and Queen Elizabeth Halls, and as concerto soloist with the Philharmonia, the English Sinfonia, the Irish Chamber Orchestra, the Academy of Ancient Music, the Singapore Symphony and the BBC Symphony. Piers has made several solo CDs reflecting an eclectic taste, ranging from his award-winning Vivaldi début disc (Cala) to David Bedford’s Recorder Concerto (NMC) - one of many major works written for and premiered by him. He has also researched, arranged and recorded many classical, romantic, impressionist and folk-influenced showpieces, which are a mainstay of his recital programs. Full details of his performing activities can be found on www.piersadams.com.

Julia Bishop is one of the outstanding baroque violin specialists of her generation, with a virtuoso style described in the BBC Music Magazine as ‘psychedelic’. She has toured the world with most of the UK's leading period instrument orchestras, including the English Concert, of which she was a member for six years. Julia has worked extensively as an orchestral leader and soloist, in particular with the celebrated Gabrieli Consort, with whom she has performed internationally and appeared on numerous discs for Deutsche Grammophon. She has also appeared as concerto soloist with Florilegium, the Brandenburg Consort and the Hanover Band.

Angela East is widely respected as one of the most brilliant and dynamic performers in the period instrument world, praised in The Times, London, for the ‘elemental power’ of her cello playing. She has given numerous concerto performances in London's Queen Elizabeth and Wigmore Halls, and has performed as soloist and continuo cellist with many of Europe's leading baroque orchestras. Among her impressive list of concert credits are La Scala, Milan, Sydney Opera House, Versailles and Glyndebourne. In 1991 Angela formed ‘The Revolutionary Drawing Room’ which performs chamber works from the revolutionary period in Europe on original instruments, and whose first eight CDs have received glowing reviews world-wide. Her long awaited disc of Bach’s Cello Suites is due for release on Red Priest Recordings in 2009, together with a recital disc of popular baroque cello sonatas.

Howard Beach’s uniquely wide-ranging style of keyboard playing has been developed through years of partnering fine musicians in many different fields of music, as well as his own experience as an accomplished singer and violinist. Since 1989 he has worked regularly with Piers Adams in concert and in the recording studio as both harpsichordist and pianist - including several performances in London's Wigmore Hall and tours throughout Europe, Canada and the Far East. He has also performed and recorded as a concerto soloist and continuo player with Les Arts Florissants, the Apollo Chamber Orchestra and the London Mozart Players. Howard broadcasts frequently on radio and has been consultant and performer for Channel 4 TV.