Max Richter
Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi - The Four Seasons

LA RECENSIONE

We can say without a shadow of a doubt that art today is increasingly losing that character of tangibility that in the past allowed it to be fenced in, enclosed within a precise aesthetic boundary that allowed the created work to be defined unequivocally, besides guiding its creation. And today this intangibility is also reflected in the possibility of deconstructing, fragmenting, and reconstructing a masterpiece of the past, filtering it through the compositional "lenses" of the twentieth century, and creating something that, far from being a pioneer of new millennial classics, is nonetheless pleasant and artistically valid. Arvo Pärt and Philip Glass: these are the two tutelary names that echo throughout most of the listening of the album, to which Mr. Richter owes quite a bit in this musical experiment by Deutsche Grammophon. The echoes of the former are quite evident in the less frenetic rhythmic movements, where the brushstrokes of the strings are slowed down and stripped, effectively imitating the symphonic style of the renowned Estonian composer. Glass's musical vocabulary, on the other hand, is omnipresent in the construction of harmonic frameworks and circular counterpoints: these, perhaps, at times overused. It must be said, however, how Richter also adds his own touch, working by removal and synthesis on the melodies, and the constructed harmonic simplifications often prove convincing, a perfect blend of tradition and avant-garde: a baroque minimalism of fine quality. Unfortunately, not all that glitters is gold and so the "Autumn," centered on the will to free itself from the already heard, seems almost like a sketch hastily drawn and one to return to later, a bipolar recomposition guilty of being neither fish nor fowl. "Winter" takes responsibility for lifting the general tone, with a first movement that manages to create something original revolving around a syncopated melody, followed by a much softer second movement which serves as a springboard for the final one: a climax of strings in continuous ascent, heart-swelling. The work as a whole results pleasant to listen to and a welcome déjà-vu for those familiar with twentieth-century art music, besides serving as a starting point for the less experienced in the field, willing, perhaps, to broaden their musical horizons.