Vivaldi Borrows From Vivaldi
Whether you listen to classical music or not, you will have heard Vivaldi's set of violin concertos The Four Seasons, or at least the Spring, with its well-known theme.
Recently, while converting my old CD collection to digital format (a process which has taken forever), I came across this old CD of mine, which is a recording of highlights from a Vivaldi opera called "L'Olimpiade" by the Hungarian State Orchestra, conducted by Ferenc Szekeres.
Years ago I heard one of the tracks on this CD played by Robin Ray on BBC World Service. It was a choral version of the famous Spring tune which Vivaldi "shamelessly" borrowed from his own Four Seasons. I thought that was fun.
So I ordered the CD from overseas (it was a fairly obscure recording for a place like Hong Kong). I must confess I bought it simply for its "novelty" value. Listening to it again now, I find the music is actually delightful, and the recording is bright and crisp.
When I searched for the album cover to embed into the mp3's, I was glad to see that it's still available, albeit with a slightly album cover. You can hear the "Spring" chorus on Track 3 on Amazon:
Or, here's a shorter clip that I've made:
