大象传媒

On 25 September 1989, Nigel Kennedy鈥檚 recording of Vivaldi鈥檚 Four Seasons was released on EMI. It would go on to become the best-selling classical music record of all time. Three million copies were purchased worldwide and the album held on to the No 1 spot in the classical chart for more than a year.

It was a smart choice for EMI. Vivaldi's The Four Seasons - with its 12 tracks each around 3 minutes long - was perfect for a non-specialist audience more used to popular culture. And they had a smart marketing campaign with a promotional single, huge billboard posters, radio and TV commercials. This was the first time that a concerto had been given starry pop marketing.

The recording is an exhilarating ride with Kennedy鈥檚 own embellishments. It sealed his reputation as a unique artist and brilliant violinist and won him a rapidly growing fan base. Kennedy could have stopped right there. He was the spiky-haired, football-loving, punk violinist - a maverick, foot-stamping performer, a jazz-loving, formidable talent. "By the age of 30," he said, "I had received the important classical music awards and if I stopped playing, I could rest on those laurels."

But Kennedy didn鈥檛 stop. And he didn鈥檛 let The Four Seasons rest either.

Twenty-five years later, Kennedy re-released The Four Seasons with a unique take on authentic performance. It was as if Vivaldi鈥檚 score had been steeped in the textures and technology of the late 20th century, then filtered through Kennedy鈥檚 eccentric imagination. Performing with his own Polish ensemble, the Orchestra of Life, The Four Seasons appears as a fantastical musical playground where swirling electronics, birdsong and raucous, earthy dance beats weave around dream-like 18th century ghosts.It felt diverse, inclusive and relevant.

Yet this is no box-ticking exercise. Kennedy shuns contemporary trends. Gender balance? "What鈥檚 so important?" he says. His musical heroes? Mostly deceased. Living classical composers? There are none in his repertoire. He doesn鈥檛 own or use a computer ("Not seen them help anyone鈥檚 lives," he says) and he ignores social media.

"I refuse to be put into a little box," Kennedy wrote in his 1991 biography. One foot in and one foot out of the industry, Kennedy walks an intoxicating tightrope. "Be yourself," he says, "but do it really well".

This is one of 100 significant musical moments explored by 大象传媒 Radio 3鈥檚 Essential Classics as part of Our Classical Century, a 大象传媒 season celebrating a momentous 100 years in music from 1918 to 2018. Visit bbc.co.uk/ourclassicalcentury to watch and listen to all programmes in the season.

This is an excerpt from a recording of Spring by Nigel Kennedy and the English Chamber Orchestra.

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