Technical Details: Interactive menu Sound: DTS/ DD 5.1/ Digital Stereo Region Code: worldwide Picture Format: 4:3  Special: 5.1 Surround Check Tool   Running Time: ca. 43 min.

Order No: 55020 Antonio Vivaldi The Four Seasons   Orchestra: Versailles Soloists Conductor: Bernard Le Monnier Soloist: Bernard Le Monnier, violin   Created in 1986 by conductor Bernard Le Monnier, the Versailles Soloists performs both as a chamber orchestra with 17 instruments and as a full orchestral ensemble with 30 to 40 instruments, which gives it wide latitude in terms of repertoire, running from the baroque period to contemporary works.   All of the musicians have won honours from the National Conservatory of Paris or from national conservatories in France's provinces. The ensemble has performed in the most prestigious concert halls in Europe and has won an enthusiastic following, thanks to its dynamism, unity of tone and the quality of its musical resonance.   Of all Vivaldi's many concertos, The Four Seasons have captured the imagination of modern audiences the most. These four violin concertos were part of a larger set Vivaldi published in 1725 under the title The Contest of Harmony and Invention. When The Four Seasons were published, four sonnets highlighting exactly what was happening in each concerto, were also added. They are a brilliant early example of programme music - music that tells some kind of story, or describes or mimics non-musical things. The Four Seasons were written for a solo violin, strings and continuo (harpsichord or organ), and each concerto falls into a fast-slow-fast movement pattern.