Delos Diary

There was once a wonderful violinist named Louis Kaufman. Although well-known in the classical concert world, he was most famous as the violin soloist millions of us heard on the soundtracks of many great movies from the '30s to the 70's … "Gone With The Wind," "Casablanca," "Wuthering Heights," and "Ben Hur" among many others. His widow and frequent accompanist, Annette Kaufman, now 88, has just completed and edited his memoirs, soon to be published under the title A Fiddler's Tale, How Hollywood and Vivaldi Discovered Me. This unusual name aroused my interest. It seems that Louis Kaufman may have been the very first violinist to record Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" concertos, in 1947. It's hard to believe that these concertos, now so frequently heard and recorded, were ever a rarity.

Which brings me to my point. We, at Delos, have two excellent recordings of these Vivaldi favorites in our catalog: (DE 3007) Elmar Oliveira, Gerard Schwarz, and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, recorded in 1980; and (DE 3280) Massimo Quarta (Italian violin virtuoso), Constantine Orbelian, and the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, recorded in 2000. Both are wonderful versions, with very different interpretations of the same content.

Most music lovers don't realize that these beloved concertos are only the first four of twelve included in Vivaldi's Opus 8, called Il Cimento dell'Armonia e dell'Inventione (The Contest of Harmony and Invention). I couldn't have named them better myself.