. . . Richter¿s composition marks a new high . . . He has done far more than simply re-orchestrate the Vivaldi, going through the original score and plucking out his favorite musical ideas and dispensing with a great deal of the notes . . . The musicians were prepared to match him, playing in unison the dart-like repeated note values that often gave the work a distinctly minimalistic quality: here Vivaldi becomes systems music grounded by solid melody and a propulsive bass line. The result sounded a good deal . . .

Part of the fun of the album is that your ears play tricks with your memory of the original: these familiar melodies do unexpected things, resulting in an experience that's both disturbing yet full of strange delights . . .

It's a beautiful recomposition, with undulating string beds carrying Daniel Hope's lyrical lone violin lines. The "Spring" sections are joyously simple and engaging, with subsequent sections adding depth through high-string harmonies, methodical harpsichord and pulsing string ostinatos that reflect the original Vivaldian style. The result is a creditable palimpsest of the original work informed by modern pop and dance techniques.

. . . Richter is very self-aware. He notices that his own taste in repeating patterns doesn't mesh with the apparently similar patterns in Vivaldi. They obey a different logic, and the friction between them generates a fascinatingly ambiguous colour. Richter teases out and heightens this colour . . . It is a subtle and often moving piece of work . . . the field of the classical remix has finally become interesting.

. . . [a] delightful reconstruction of Vivaldi¿s overly-familiar concerti . . . Daniel Hope is the skilled solo violinist in both the originals and reconstructed sections . . . in two auditions I must say this surpasses the couple of jazz versions "The Four Seasons" I have heard.

This week we're listening to Vivaldi's Four Seasons as recomposed by Max Richter. It has been out for a few weeks but we can't stop listening to it. As someone smarter than us said, it's like Vivaldi's gone post-rock.

This is Vivaldi's biggest hit, the "Four Seasons", in disguise, so to speak . . . Richter has given the warhorse a makeover. In places, he veers far away from the original four concertos; in other spots he simply adds some low-end electronics and messes with the rhythm. I like how he throws a syncopated back-beat underneath this movement from "Summer." It gives the music an extra kick, especially in this fiery performance by violinist Daniel Hope.

Inventive orchestra and solo sonorities, and Vivaldi -- sometimes hinted at, sometimes authentic. Evocative, arresting, and rescued from overreliance on minimalist repetition by committed playing.

How cool can the much respected (classical) music Deutsche Grammophon label be, asking 'modern composer' Max Richter to recompose the evergreen of baroque music? To make the baroque rock? With a baffling end result, Max Richter did not only do excellent fine-tuning, but he stripped the Venetian all-timer and made it look brand new! Agreed the shiny, rich tarnish had to go. Violinist Daniel Hope, however, must have encountered many surprises when reading Max Richter's new sheet music . . . [Richter's version] reworks Vivaldi's 'Four Seasons' in a most immaculate fashion and with a contemporary perception. It restores to dignity and . . . features nothing but joyful and exhilarating playing, by which, and that's where I warn you, you might become overwhelmed.The transition from Summer into Autumn, where Max Richter unashamedly re-interprets Vivaldi, sounds particularly striking . . . 'Summer' gets performed with such joy, and with such beauty, that when the season turns into 'Autumn', Max Richter has already cosily and closely nestled up in the realms of the greatest composer from baroque times . . . to put it mildly, here you get his four seasons masterpiece all spiced and all spiked up.

. . . [on "Four Seasons" CD]: an intelligent, even reverent, updating of Vivaldi . . . [on "Spheres" CD]: Gabriel Prokofiev's "Spheres", an impressive highwire act for Hope, easily stands out. Nor is it easy to forget Karsten Gundermann's "Faust"-inspired "Nachspiel". . .

Der Vivaldi fürs 21. Jahrhundert -- ein idealer Begleiter durch das Jahr.

. . . Verfremdungs- und Soundtrack-Effekte [lassen sich] auch in dieser fabelhaften Vivaldi-Bearbeitung finden (etwa in "Summer 3" oder "Autumn 3"), ohne dass es je breiig oder banal klingt. Im virtuosen Zusammenspiel des Geigers Daniel Hope mit dem Konzerthaus-Kammerorchester Berlin unter Leitung von André De Ridder ist ein topaktueller "Jahreszeiten-Remix" entstanden -- und ein neues Werk von ganz eigenem Wert.