VIVALDI, UPDATED
Chatter to perform modern interpretation of ‘Four Seasons’
Chatter Sunday is weaving a Vivaldi classic into a contemporary tapestry.
Violinist and Chatter artistic director and co-founder David Felberg will perform Max Richter’s 2012 take on “The Four Seasons” at Las Puertas Event Center on Dec. 3.
“They call it recomposed,” the violinist said. “A good portion of it is strictly Vivaldi. (Richter) manipulates certain aspects of Vivaldi to bring it into a slightly more contemporary form.”
Richter took the composer’s familiar motifs into phasing and looping. The new version topped the classical charts in the U.S., Great Britain and Germany.
“Incredibly subtly it transfers into this contemporary feel,” Felberg said. “It’s very kind of an homage to Vivaldi. It really shows a lot of respect for Vivaldi.”
The familiar first movement “Winter” moves from a standard 4/4 time signature into an irregular meter of 7/16, he said. In the original slow movement, the pizzicato strings resemble raindrops. In Richter’s reimagining, the sustained, harmonic tones sound like an icy mist.
Felberg also will perform Joseph Kasinskas’“Flight of Birds.” The violin and its echoes represent the geometric flights of wings. Kasinskas will be present at the concert.
“The violin uses electronic digital delay,” Felberg said. “It’s basically a thing used for echo. If you’re in a canyon and you yell out something, you hear it coming back to you. It’s used a lot in rock ’n’ roll and electric guitar.
“It creates these wonderful sound effects.”