If it wasn't for a spiky-haired Nigel Kennedy’s 1989 recording of Vivaldi’s
The Four Seasons, you and I might not be listening to Classic FM today.
Here's why I think one album changed the classical world forever.
It's a bold statement, I know, but think about this: in 1989,
the classical world was marking the end of an era with the death of
Herbert von Karajan. Then Kennedy burst onto the scene and launched a
new one. He was the polar opposite to every expectation we had of
classical musicians: scruffy, cheeky, spiky-haired, foot-stamping,
‘Mockney’ speaking; he called us ‘cats’ and ‘monsters’!
Agreed, The Four Seasons was the first time that a
classical artist had been given the full pop marketing treatment. There
was a promotional ‘single’, billboard posters, TV and radio commercials. But there was more to this phenomenon than marketing - Kennedy is a brilliant violinist and performer.
His full throttle version of Vivaldi
sold more than three million copies worldwide, held onto the No.1 spot
in the classical chart for more than a year, and entered the record
books as the best-selling classical recording ever.
I'd spent my youth playing in bands and I vividly recall hearing
Kennedy's album for the first time and thinking 'This guy knows how to
let rip!' I'd never heard baroque that sounded like rock before - and Kennedy looked the part too. If you need a reminder, join me on Classic FM Drive after 6pm to hear a track from the classic recording.
And I'd say that Classic FM, launched three years later, probably
would not have had such a phenomenal launch and success if it weren’t
for Kennedy. He, along with the arrival of the Three Tenors the
following year, demystified classical music,
showing that it wasn’t just for a knowledgeable elite. He didn’t dumb
it down and he didn’t ‘cross-over’, he just put it out there. And in
doing so he laid the foundations for the next 25 years and a public who
had been awakened to the joy of classical music.
(C) 2014 by ClassicFM
