Antonio Vivaldi’s ‘Four Seasons” is one of the best-known pieces of music in the world. But did you know that Vivaldi himself wrote his own poetry that the music is designed to illustrate? Take a look at this video, where Heifetz Institute Founder Daniel Heifetz discusses the meaning behind the music of Antonio Vivaldi’s “Winter” Concerto – and how brilliantly Vivaldi musically portrayed his own poetry. Recorded at the “Heifetz Holiday Homecoming” at Mary Baldwin University‘s Francis Auditorium in Staunton, VA, home of the Heifetz International Music Institute. Heifetz alumna Rachell Wong is the soloist in the musical excerpts. 

Now, ready for the Main Event? Mary Baldwin University President Pamela Fox next introduces Vivaldi’s own words (in a fresh translation by Daniel Mark Epstein) that he wrote in the score to his “Winter” Concerto from his “Four Seasons.” Rachell Wong is the violin soloist, joining a band of Heifetz Institute alums, including Chloe Kiffer and Nikita Borisevich, violins; Andrew Gonzalez, viola; Coleman Itzkoff and Nicholas Mariscal, cellos. Heifetz faculty keyboard coordinator Stefan Petrov is the harpsichordist. Shivering!