The Three Seasons of Antonio Vivaldi (Arcana A550, 3 cds, released on 8^th September, c£29.25) is not, you’ll be relieved to know, the ‘famous four’ minus one but an ingenious sequence of violin concertos, many of them unfamiliar, that takes us through three stages of Vivaldi’s creative career, symbolised by Spring, Summer and Autumn.  Sometimes there are allusions to the well-known (the dolorous pizzicato-accompanied Larghetto from the B minor Concerto, RV.390 – the last concerto in the set) but most works offset the common but unfounded accusation that Vivaldi rewrote the same concerto hundreds of times. Nothing could be further from the truth.  Mind you that impression is down largely to the expertise of violinist Giuliano Carmognola and Accademia dell’Annunciata under Riccardo Doni whose performances are consistently alert and alive.

I’d start with the third disc, ‘Autumn’, the darkly driven C minor RV201, its accompaniment including a twanging theorbo and downwards rushing scales (which also storm the opening Concerto on the Summer CD, in C major, RV.189). This is Vivaldi thinking – and feeling – outside of the box, truly sturm und drang (‘storm and stress’) and quite unlike the more pastoral world of various other Vivaldi violin concertos, the finale, a rhythmic tour de force. The brightly coloured B flat major Concerto RV.367, which harbours at its centre one of Vivaldi’s loveliest Andantes, is presented in its original version (a world première recording), and I love the hopscotch opening allegro of the G minor Concerto, RV.327.

Then you might switch to the ‘Spring’ (ie first) CD for a couple of better-known concertos, the D major for example from the collection ‘L’Estro Armonico’, often recorded, but which Carmignola sings with sundry embellishments (especially in the central Larghetto where occasional stresses sound as if they may even be interpolated human voices). Also from ‘L’estro armonico’ is the chirpy E major Concerto, RV.265 which leads straight into the conversational esprit of the D major Concerto RV.210 from the ‘Il Cimento dell′ Armonia e dell′ Inventione’ set. A further highlight from the second ‘Summer’ CD is the G minor RV.330 Concerto, which ricochets into action at top speed whereas a mellower Vivaldi informs the disc’s last Concerto, in B flat RV.380. All in all, this is a superb collection featuring the player who is probably Vivaldi’s master interpreter for the 21^st Century. The recorded sound is thrillingly immediate.