Vivaldi Metal Project - The Four Seasons

The newest (and likely one of the most unique) offerings in the symphonic metal category comes in the form of the Vivaldi Metal Project. This album is the result of the collaboration of over 130 musicians to bring to life the work of Antonio Vivaldi's Boroque masterwork "The Four Seasons."

The mastermind of this project is MISTHERIA, an Italian keyboard player, composer and producer (solo artist, Bruce Dickenson, Rob Rock, Roy Z andArtlantica). Having always been influenced by this work by Antonio Vivaldi, he began to envision what a symphonic version of these works might sound like back in 2013. Now, three years later, and after having recruited some of the very best talents in the industry from top international acts such as Dream Theater, Within Temptation, Helloween, Soilwork, Testament, Delain and Stratovarious to name just a few, this enormous collaborative effort is finally ready for release.

Given the contributors to this album, it's of no surprise at all that the classical elements of this will instantly bring the listener to familiar territory. A casual fan of Trans-Siberian Orchestra would find this album irresistible from the first track "Escape From Hell." The sheer size of this work is something that must be heard to be understood. The second track brings us to the first single "The Illusion of Eternity" (see lyric video below), which again brings a louder than life feeling to this album. I find music like this to be so exciting because it's meant for so many different people. Fans of classical, progressive, symphonic or even metal in general will find this to be incredibly appealing. I would certainly hope for the opportunity to see a live performance of this at some point. In the meantime, give this a listen, even the most casual fan of any of these genres is likely to be enthralled!

Full Press Release:

Vivaldi Metal Project The Four Seasons Pride & Joy Music 22 July 2016

The VIVALDI METAL PROJECT is a music creation born from an idea conceived and developed by Italian keyboard player, composer and producer MISTHERIA (solo artist, Bruce Dickinson, Rob Rock, Roy Z, Artlantica). The project is a symphonic-metal opera based on Antonio Vivaldi’s Baroque masterwork “The Four Seasons”, featuring more than 130 amazing metal and classical artists, orchestra, a string quartet and three choirs from all over the world. The album features 14 tracks - all the movements from Antonio Vivaldi's original score plus two original new songs written by MISTHERIA. The impressive roster of artists probably makes this titanic album the biggest all-star project ever! Back in 2013, MISTHERIA started thinking about making a metal version of “The Four Seasons”, a masterpiece that he loved and kept listening to since his childhood. MISTHERIA started to play and record all the movements on the piano but then felt that a parallel symphonic-metal version would have been the perfect continuation. Therefore, he recorded and uploaded a short trailer on the web to start engaging musicians. A few days later, Italian bassist and composer Alberto Rigoni (solo artist, TwinSpirits, Kim Bingham, The Italians, BADASS), who had already collaborated with Mistheria by recording bass on his previous solo album “Dragon Fire”, learned about the project and contacted MISTHERIA offering his support to work on the project as co-producer. Also, MISTHERIA made the “innovative” choice - never done so far - to add lyrics and singers to “The Four Seasons” which, as composed by Vivaldi, is an instrumental work. For this important task, he invited Douglas R. Docker who perfectly translated the producer's concept into brilliant lyrics. Additional lyrics were written by Mistheria, Rob Rock and Lance King. A cast of 10 awesome arrangers joined MISTHERIA creating epic and memorable music, combining a standard metal band lineup with strings, orchestra and choir: Douglas R. Docker, Francesco Dall’O’, Frank Caruso, Gabriels, Keiko Kumagai, Nicolas Waldo, Pawel Penksa, Tomas Varnagiris, Yannis Androulakakis and Zhivko Koev. The cast furthermore includes performances by Mark Boals (Malmsteen, Royal Hunt), Fabio Lione (Rhapsody of Fire, Angra), Edu Falaschi (Almah), Rob Rock (Impellitteri), Mike Lepond (SymhonyX), Dani Löble (Helloween), Ruud Jolie (Within Temptation), Mark Cross (Firewind, Scorpions), Steve Di Giorgio (Testament), Rolf Pilve (Stratovarius), Victor Smolski (Rage, Almanac), Ruben Israel (Delain), John Macaluso (ARK), Marco Sfogli (James Labrie), Chris Caffery (Savatage), Mark Wood (Trans Siberian Orchestra), Dirk Verbeuren (Soilwork), Atma Anur (Tony MacAlpine), Vitalij Kuprij, Anna Portalupi (Tarja Turunen), Sean Tibbetts (Kamelot), Martijn Peters (Stream of Passion) and many more. It took more than 2 years of intensive non-stop hard work to get the album done. Mixed and mastered byIvan Moni Bidin at “Artesonika” recording studio in Italy and assisted by Fabio D'Amore, the album is a full 74 minutes of intense, passionate, fascinating, powerful and majestic experience! Production, ideation, concept and artistic direction by MISTHERIA. Co-produced by Alberto Rigoni. www.vivaldimetalproject.com / www.mistheria.com / www.albertorigoni.net

Vivaldi Metal Project | The Illusion of Eternity (Spring 1st mov.) - Official Lyric Video

Vivaldi Metal Project - Official Trailer #1

Vivaldi Metal Project - Official Trailer #2