Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) Italian composer, Baroque period

Vivaldi's Four Seasons is one of the most popular pieces of classical music from the baroque  period, but may serve as an introduction to Vivaldi's vast output of music of all genres. He wrote over 40 operas, 500 concertos for various instruments and much church music - he was ordained at the age of 25 and was nicknamed 'The Red Priest', a reference to the colour of his hair. 

During an exceptionally busy career Vivaldi was a noted violinist, a teacher and, once he began to write operas, an impresario. Despite his fame he died in poverty at the age of 63 and his music gradually became less often played as tastes changed and eventually fell into neglect. His music was 'rediscovered' in the 20th century and The Four Seasons has become  one of the most popular works of all time.

Kingsway Hall Classics has a selection of recordings of this work on LP - actually the first four concertos in a set of twelve that Vivaldi called 'The Contest Between Harmony & Invention' Op. 8.  We offer box set complete recordings of the the whole work, as well as numerous performances on both original instruments (Pinnock / Kuijken / Hogwood / Harnoncourt) and many more on modern instruments featuring virtuoso violinists.