Max Richter’s new version, explained Chi-chi Nwanoku, “is still the same tale – it’s just about bringing that 21st-century twist to it”. He noted, “Chineke! is a young band and because of that you feel like you’re working with the future,” and described soloist Elena Urioste as “absolutely brilliant”.Ĭomposer and players worked in close collaboration, without a conductor, and discussed all aspects of the music, including Baroque instrumental technique and the storytelling throughout Vivaldi’s original. Max Richter was delighted with the results of the first recording sessions in his newly-built Oxfordshire studio complex.

Chi-chi Nwanoku OBE, Founder and Artistic & Executive Director of Chineke! Foundation, said, “For Max to go to a modern group and ask us to play on gut strings adds an extra dimension of curiosity, of adventure, of exploration.”

When asked to describe the difference in sound between modern and period strings Max Richter explained, “I heard someone say it’s the difference between smooth peanut butter and crunchy peanut butter, which encapsulates it really well!”Ĭhineke! Orchestra, Europe’s first majority Black and ethnically diverse orchestra, founded by Chi-chi Nwanoku OBE in 2015, collaborated with Richter on The New Four Seasons and previously performed on his score for Waltz with Bashir in 2018. He explained, “Vivaldi’s palette applied to the new score was extraordinary – it was like fireworks.” The New Four Seasons applies a Baroque palette to the score in which Max Richter transforms fragments from the original four violin concertos into different musical prisms and colours within completely different orchestral settings.

Max Richter was inspired by a special performance of Recomposed on period instruments to take “a new trip through the text using Vivaldi’s own colours”. “Vivaldi’s palette applied to the new score was extraordinary” ‘Spring 1’ is a personal favourite of Olympic swimmer Adam Peaty, as well as Christine & The Queens who described it as “the best song ever to fall in love to” and Diddy who called it his “theme music”. Recomposed continues to attract new listeners through its use in the soundtracks of hit TV series including Bridgerton and The Crown, and has also been featured in My Brilliant Friend, Chef’s Table, Orphan Black and The Current War.

Vivaldi spring max richter