The Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood - Vivaldi: Le Quattro Stagioni (2007)

Christopher Hogwood was one of the first pioneers to introduce historically informed performances in England in the 70', following Nikolaus Harnoncourt's revolution that took place in the late 50'. With the Academy of Ancient Music, he published hundreds of fine recordings from different composers, with a special focus on Vivaldi. Here he presents the famous Four Seasons.
I find Hogwood's lecture of the 4 Seasons perfect. The precision of the soloists is remarkable, their ornamentation really refined, and by following the text that Vivaldi wrote along with his music, Hogwood gives meaning to each verse with a specific phrasing (the dog is barking in Spring mvt 2, the storm rages in Summer mvt 3, and Winter is really windy in mvt 1). Hogwood keeps the expressiveness of each piece without going too far as most romantic versions do, but in the meantime he gives it enough feeling so it doesn't sound mechanical like some period ensembles. The tempi are exactly as they should be, and we're far from the eccentricity of Biondi's version. It would be my favorite version, wasn't it for Andrew Parrott and the Taverner Players that I discovered after Hogwood. I just think Parrott is a little more expressive in some concertos.