Antonio Vivaldi: The Four Seasons (Trevor Pinnock, The English Concert)

Vivaldi's four violin concertos paint the seasons in sound: birdsong in spring, a summer thunderstorm, the chill of winter. Trevor Pinnock and The English Concert, with Simon Standage as soloist, play on period instruments with a lean, crisp energy that avoids the heavy, lush style of older big-orchestra versions. Choose it as the friendliest first step into baroque music.