Moysa & rotonda string ensemble: The... 8 seasons by Various, De la (2019/2019), Thessaloniki Concert Hall, Thessaloniki, Greece

MOYSA joins the Rotunda String Ensemble on stage. The artistic director of the ensemble, which is under the auspices of the State Conservatory of Thessaloniki, is Irini Dragneva. Seven young violin soloists, members of MOYSA and the Rotonda Ensemble, face the demands of Antonio Vivaldi and Astor Piazzolla 's famous 4+4 Seasons . Around 1716-17 Antonio Vivaldi composes the 4 seasons, perhaps his most famous work and one of the first works of program music. Four sonnets, probably written by the composer himself, accompany the four concertos for solo violin, strings and basso continuo. Each concerto renders with music the "soundscape" described in the corresponding 14-line poem. Two and a half centuries later, between 1965 and 1970, Astor Piazzolla composes the 4 seasons of Buenos Aires, a work which is found in various versions for different combinations of instruments. Leonid Desyatnikov's arrangement creates a particularly interesting juxtaposition of the eras of the two composers, as on the one hand Vivaldi's orchestration (solo violin and strings) is preserved, while on the other hand Vivaldi's themes are integrated into Piazzolla's musical text. The running order of the seasons is based on the alternation between the northern and southern hemispheres (spring in Italy, autumn in Buenos Aires).