Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi – The Four Seasons is a composition by contemporary classical composer Max Richter. The piece is a complete recomposition and reinterpretation of Vivaldi's violin concertos The Four Seasons. Although Richter said that he had discarded 75 percent of Vivaldi's original material, the parts he does use are phased and looped, emphasising his grounding in postmodern and minimalist music.
A version by Daniel Hope (violin) with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin under the direction of André de Ridder was released on August 31, 2012 on Universal Classics and Jazz (Germany), a division of Universal Music Group, and Deutsche Grammophon,Recomposed by Max Richter – Antonio Vivaldi – Die vier Jahreszeiten – The Four Seasons: Deutsche Grammophon Catalog prior to its first live performance. It has since been recorded by other artists.
Premieres in the concert hall Richter's recomposed version of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons was premiered in the UK at the Barbican Centre on 31 October 2012, performed by the Britten Sinfonia, conducted by André de Ridder, with violinist Daniel Hope. The US launch concert in New York at Le Poisson Rouge was recorded by NPR and streamed live.
Discography The Deutsche Grammophon album was played by the violinist Daniel Hope and the Konzerthaus Kammerorchester Berlin symphony orchestra, and conducted by André de Ridder. On the album, Hope plays the "Ex-Lipinski" violin, an instrument made by Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù in 1742 and made available to the violinist by a German family who asked to remain anonymous. The album topped the iTunes classical chart in the UK, Germany, and the US.
The Rubicon Classics recording features soloist Fenella Humphreys and the Covent Garden Sinfonia, conducted by Ben Palmer. Humphreys recorded using a violin from the circle of Peter Guarneri of Venice, made in 1727.
Richter recorded a new version of the Four Seasons in 2022 alongside violinist Elena Urioste and the Chineke! Orchestra and released it as The New Four Seasons – Vivaldi Recomposed.
Critical reception Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi – The Four Seasons received widespread acclaim from contemporary classical music critics.
Ivan Hewett of The Telegraph gave the album a very positive review, stating:As you would expect of a composer who once studied with the great modernist Luciano Berio, Richter is very self-aware. He notices that his own taste in repeating patterns doesn’t mesh with the apparently similar patterns in Vivaldi. They obey a different logic, and the friction between them generates a fascinatingly ambiguous colour. Richter teases out and heightens this colour, sometimes with Vivaldi uppermost, sometimes himself. It is a subtle and often moving piece of work, which suggests that after years of tedious disco and trance versions of Mozart, the field of the classical remix has finally become interesting.
Track listing
Personnel Main personnel
Max Richter – composer, mixing, producer, quotation author André de Ridder – conductor Daniel Hope – primary artist, violin Raphael Alpermann – harpsichord Konzerthaus Kammerorchester Berlin – orchestra Alexander Kahl – cello David Drost – cello Nerina Mancini – cello Ying Guo – cello Ernst-Martin Schmidt – viola Felix Korinth – viola Katja Plagens – viola Matthias Benker – viola Alicia Lagger – violin Christoph Kulicke – violin Karoline Bestehorn – violin Sayako Kusaka – violin , concertmaster Cornelia Dill – violin Jana Krämer – violin Johannes Jahnel – violin Ulrike Töppen – violin Ronith Mues – harp Georg Schwärsky – double bass Jorge Villar Paredes – double bass Sandor Tar – double bass
Additional personnel Antonio Vivaldi – original material Felix Feustel – product manager Neil Hutchinson – recording engineer, mixing Christian Kellersmann – original concept Nick Kimberley – liner notes Götz-Michael Rieth – mastering engineer Mandy Parnell – mastering engineer Matthias Schneider – project manager Erik Weiss – photography Jenni Whiteside – editing Double Standards – art direction
Charts
Weekly charts + 2014 weekly chart performance for Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi – The Four Seasons Chart (2014) Peakposition + 2018 weekly chart performance for Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi – The Four Seasons Chart (2018) Peakposition New Zealand Heatseeker Albums (RMNZ) 5
+ 2025 weekly chart performance for Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi – The Four Seasons Chart (2025–2026) Peakposition French Classical Albums (SNEP) 16
+ 2022 weekly chart performance for The New Four Seasons – Vivaldi Recomposed Chart (2022) Peakposition
Monthly charts + Monthly chart performance for Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi – The Four Seasons Chart (2025) Peakposition German Classical Albums (Offizielle Top 100) 1
Year-end charts + 2025 year-end chart performance for Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi – The Four Seasons Chart (2025) Peakposition Belgian Classical Albums (Ultratop 50 Flanders) 7 Belgian Classical Albums (Ultratop 50 Wallonia) 13
+ 2025 year-end chart performance for The New Four Seasons – Vivaldi Recomposed Chart (2025) Peakposition Belgian Classical Albums (Ultratop 50 Flanders) 8 Belgian Classical Albums (Ultratop 50 Wallonia) 17
References