It is a recording that is shaking up the classical music scene. Suddenly, an audience feels addressed that until then had heard little of classical music, of Bach or Vivaldi. Nigel Kennedy succeeds in overcoming the fears of an audience for whom Schubert and Beethoven had previously been too elitist and too aloof. He inspires as many and as varied people as probably few classical music stars before him. The CD with a recording of the Four Seasons becomes the best-selling classical album of all time. Nigel Kennedy enter the Guinness Book of Records: more than 3 million records sold. The album stays at the top of the UK classical charts for over a year and also reaches high positions in the pop charts. The tabloids and magazines pounce on the young artist. The recording of this tour, which sells out within minutes, becomes one of music‘s finest moments. With wildly gelled hair and in unusual designer garb, Nigel Kennedy appears before his audience. He succeeds in addressing his listeners simply, without airs and graces, and in introducing them to his world without creating any hurdles.
Magic Moments of Music – The Four Seasons recomposed by Max Richter
Turn old into new – a tried and tested approach, but can you do the same with Vivaldi’s legendary Four Seasons? Organist Anna Lapwood’s answer is clear: ‘Nothing is off limits!’ After the release of his album ‘Recomposed’, composer Max Richter initially expected fierce criticism. But the opposite happened – he hit a nerve: over 450 million streams, concerts in classical halls as well as in clubs such as Berghain Berlin or Poisson Rouge in New York, and the distribution of individual tracks in the Bridgerton series testify to the success of the reinterpretation. What’s touching people when they hear ‘Recomposed’? In this magic moment, prominent artists and contemporary witnesses embark on a journey through the music, recall performance challenges and personal highlights, and explain how the British composer Max Richter put his hand to the 300-year-old work.