Vivaldi's Four Seasons At Christmas

A Christmas programme of Baroque works performed by the chamber ensemble London Concertante at Paisley Abbey, including Vivaldi's The Four Seasons. It is a concert for the festive season.

London Concertante is a UK-based chamber ensemble whose repertoire combines classical music with gypsy and Latin American pieces, including Piazzolla's tangos. Its artistic director is the cellist Chris Grist, and the group's first album, The Four Seasons, appeared in 2007.

The programme opens with the overture to Handel's Messiah, whose opening section deals with the prophecy and birth of Christ. It also includes Corelli's Christmas Concerto, intended for Christmas night, and Torelli's Christmas Concerto, both of which evoke the stillness of the Nativity. Vivaldi's The Four Seasons closes the evening: four concertos, each depicting a season, with accompanying poems that may have been written by Vivaldi himself. Across the set, the music suggests birdsong, buzzing flies, harvest celebrations, barking dogs, summer storms and winter ice.

Paisley Abbey, on Abbey Close in Paisley, is an abbey that mainly hosts concerts, especially candlelit performances. The evening suits listeners interested in Baroque repertoire for the Christmas season.