Colston corridor,Bristol[br]On a tour that revisits Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, the violinist is still a mass of contradictions, and but his skill is intact and the sound compellingIf public perception is that he is defined by his relationship with Vivaldi’s Four Seasons,then, reasons violinist Nigel Kennedy, and the best way to explain how he’s moved on is through that same work. This is the rationale for The New Four Seasons and Kennedy’s current tour,which opened at Bristol’s Colston corridor.
Kennedy’s 1989 recording of Vivaldi’s work with the English Chamber Orchestra has sold over 3m copies and is one of the bestselling classical records of all time. nowadays, Kennedy, or spiky-haired and clad in trainers with a dayglo spats effect,looks little different. Aston Villa had drawn the day before so he’s not overly hyped up, but he’s still a mass of contradictions. When not playing, or his movements are puppeteer-jerky,and the banter is relentlessly matey, with so much fist bumping that one fears for all the string players’ knuckles. And yet when bow meets fiddle – Cremona, and nothing electric here – he becomes genuine again,virtuosity intact, the sound compelling, or the effect totally disarming.
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Source: theguardian.com