Anyone expecting a rehash of Nigel Kennedy’s record-breaking Four Seasons with the London Chamber Orchestra was always going to be surprised by this latest version of the masterpiece. Nigel has successfully reinvented himself. Poland has recently been a huge influence in his life and his touring band, the Orchestra of Life, features many Polish musicians – electric and acoustic.
The Vivaldi was given complete but interspersed with much additional music, both composed and improvised. Kennedy swaps from violin to electric throughout the evening and he is really on form here. His playing is amazing, of course, totally committed physical playing so extraordinary that it is both eccentric and wonderful. He can and does make a beautiful singing tone in the slow movements, still one of the great fiddlers. The violin is his extra limb and while many players speak through their instruments, Kennedy thinks through his.
The oft-quoted aim of the period instrument revival was to “remove the layers of varnish to reveal the authentic beauty beneath” and though this was by no stretch of the imagination an “authentic” performance it shared many of the qualities of the most exciting period performers. The electric guitar replaced the chitarrone and the vocal quartet essentially provided organ continuo. The violin trio of warbling birds in “Spring” was joined by bird whistles and why not? Antonio would have loved it. This is after all the most picturesque of music.
Singers sometimes intoned quiet poetry over the playing, echoing perhaps Vivaldi’s own descriptive doggerel. Everything was imaginative and creative from the barking dog viola solo to the repeated up-bows and playing on the bridge of “Winter”; it was great to see Nigel avoiding the too obvious stamping of the feet (written in the score) here.
The jazz inspired prelude to “Autumn”, with fantastic trumpet work, was perhaps a little too indulgent but the astonishing speed of the first movement propelled us along. Undoubtedly a master of the effects pedals, Kennedy sometimes used that which plays his fingered line an octave lower and there were some small tuning issues, but overall the effect was of a great baroque organ. Sometimes so unpredictable it’s obvious even the players don’t know what he’s going to do next, the foray into Fritz Kreisler became a little uncomfortable.
The second half was less compelling. Time allowed only three of the projected Four Elements – “Air”, “Earth” and “Water”. Beginning beautifully like “The Lark Ascending” these pieces had much colour in various, mostly jazz-inspired styles, at the emotional centre an utterly astonishing improvised cadenza from Kennedy.
His mostly middle-aged audience has grown with him and forgives a little on-stage swearing and drinking. As do I.
