The Four Seasons at the Musikverein in Vienna

The violin concerto cycle The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi is a cornerstone in the history of music. Some theorists from Vivaldi’s era questioned whether the Italian maestro truly attempted to create a musical narrative, and critics still debate how music can tell stories without words.

Among the most famous works of all time, The Four Seasons were not only accompanied by a cycle of poems written by Vivaldi himself—a true libretto describing the music—but also by instructions to the instrumentalists on how to perform with specific techniques to bring the musical text to life with expression and vitality.

Although The Four Seasons are some of the most frequently recorded pieces in music history, few have had the chance to hear them as they were performed during Vivaldi’s time. This is precisely the experience offered by Maestro Fritz Kircher and the Schlosskapelle of the Musikverein with their interpretation of The Four Seasons, which revolutionized musical form and expression. Dedicated to recreating the sound of 18th-century music, the concerts at the Musikverein are performed exclusively on period instruments.

Including some of Vivaldi’s most beautiful alto arias, these concerts transport us three centuries back to an era that still retains the power to communicate with us today.