Vivaldi: The Four Seasons

Aged 13 when he recorded this album, Australian-Chinese violinist Christian Li already has an impressive number of major competition successes to his name. Indeed, it was playing “Summer” from Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons that helped him snag Junior First Prize at the Yehudi Menuhin International Competition for Young Violinists in 2018. His playing here is fresh, tight, and wonderfully alive to the ageless invention of Vivaldi’s concertos. He’s clearly read the poems behind the music and brings great imagination to his playing. The other works, again, show off Li’s style and sparkling technique. The “Tambourin Chinois” and “La ronde des Lutins,” for instance, put him in some very exalted company that he inhabits with ease.