Vivaldi's and Piazzolla's Seasons

The BBC Proms are back in the Royal Albert Hall in London with a six-week season of concerts featuring leading British orchestras as well as international soloists and conductors.

Broadcast programme:
Vivaldi - Concerto in E major, ‘La primavera’ (Spring)
Piazzolla, arr. Desyatnikov - Verano porteño (Summer in Buenos Aires)
Vivaldi - Concerto in G minor, ‘L’estate’ (Summer)
Vivaldi - Concerto in F minor, ‘L’inverno’ (Winter)
Piazzolla, arr. Desyatnikov - Primavera porteña (Spring in Buenos Aires)
Gershwin, arr. Bell/Stephenson - Summertime

Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Joshua Bell (director/violin)

Violinist Joshua Bell leads the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields on a musical journey through the sights and sounds of two continents and two centuries. Vivaldi's 18th-century Seasons are instantly recognisable, not least because they have been used in countless films, TV programmes and advertisements, so it takes a great deal of confidence to write a series of companion pieces. Astor Piazzolla, born a hundred years ago, took up the challenge in the 1960's with his Las cuatro estaciones porteñas (The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires). He originally scored them for his Quintet consisting of a bandoneón, piano, violin, electric guitar and bass but these days they are often heard in an arrangement for a string orchestra and solo violin.

Presenter Andrew McGregor is joined by violinist and a professor at the Royal College of Music in London Madeleine Mitchell.

[Image: Violinist Joshua Bell and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields at the 2021 BBC Proms. Credit: Chris Christodoulou]