By Bob Millard

Music Director Teddy Abrams leads the Louisville Orchestra in two of performances, Friday and Saturday nights, March 6 and March 7, at Brown Theatre, of AntonioVivaldi’s “The Four Seasons.” Guest artists both nights are four highly touted young violinists from the Curtis school. Moderately priced, either night is a concert to take the family to.

This concert includes music of French composers Maurice Ravel and Jean-Baptiste Lully, along with the 2014 Grawemeyer Award winning piece On the Guarding of the Heart by Serbian-born composer Djuro Zivkovic.

Vivaldi was a well-know and highly influencial Italian composer of the Baroque period Formally catalogued as Vivaldi’s Violin Concerto in F Minor, Op. 8, No. 4, RV 297, “The Four Seasons” is a bold set of four texturally varied violin concertos, that have become a sort of challenge piece for string players. One way to establish your bonafides as a violinist is to play these solos. For these weekend concerts the piece serves as showcase for the talents of the four guest violinists, each an emerging artist of exceptional talent on tour from Philadelphia's noted Curtis Institute of Music. Each artist will solo individually.

Vivaldi wrote a great number of concerto’s in his lifetime, primarily for violin, since he himself toured often all across Europe as a virtuoso on the instrument. So, you’ll understand the quality of the work when I say “The Four Seasons” is not only Vivaldi’s best-known work, but one of history's most celebrated masterpieces.

Even if you think you nothing about classical music, you know this music. The opening statement of the first piece, “Spring,” was the theme music for PBS’s popular and long-running series, “Masterpiece Theater,” from the BBC. Vivaldi composed  these concertos to invoke the personalities of the seasons of the year and nailed them. In my my own humble, but enthusiastic, igrorance, in light of the expressiveness and range of  “The Four Seasons” I like to think of Vivaldi as the George Gerswin of The Enlightenment.  Or maybe it was the other way around.

Seats are available at this writing for what bodes to be an excellent concert. Not to mention that it’s such a bargain!

March 6 – March 7. Concerts begin at 8:00PM both nights, Brown Theatre, W. Broadway at 4th St. Admission $15. Call for tickets 502-584-7777 or purchase online through www.louisvilleorchestra.org

------((((NOTE TO EDITOR)))))Below is addition, related short piece, offered if you wantwith suggested slugline ADDED VALUE, for below main copy – it's really fun --------

Live, Electric Seasons

 For headbangers who prefer their classical music in hard-edged electric guitar overdrive, “Summer Theme” from “The Four Seasons” has been interpreted by Finnish  ax-masters Alexi “Wildchild” Laiho and Roope Latvala. Both are incredible shreaders with the melodic death metal band Children of Bodom, and Synergy. They duet and swap licks in the hyper solo runs in "Storm," the 3rd movement of the 2nd concerto. It will blow you away. As them ol’ redneck boys used to say, Laiho and Latvala “tore Summer a new ‘un.” Put on your grungy black t-shirt and enjoy this performance at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwz-rF4xjTo.  B.M.