The combination of Vivaldi's 'Four Seasons' violin concertos with the 'Cuatro estaciones porteñas' of Astor Piazzolla was done several times during the Piazzolla boom of the 1990s and 2000s and continues to turn up from time to time. It would seem a tall order for violinist Arabella Steinbacher and the Munich Chamber Orchestra to come up with something fresh, but in fact, it happens in at least three ways. First is that this is a modern-instrument performance, rare enough in Vivaldi these days to qualify as a novelty. Second, in the Piazzolla, Steinbacher plays new arrangements by Peter von Wienhardt, more straightforward and more suited to her purposes than the more commonly used violin-and-orchestra versions by Leonid Desyatnikov. Third, she uses the Piazzolla seasons as introductions to the Vivaldi, probably the least common place for them but one that makes satisfying sense; they set the right moods. After all of these, the most important thing is that Steinbacher gives a truly impressive performance of the Vivaldi 'Four Seasons.' Although this is a modern performance, she has clearly been listening to the dramatic, turbocharged, slashing performances of contemporary Italian players in the historical performance movement; her outer movements have strong forward motion in which she pulls the Munich Chamber Orchestra along without any sense of strain. These are contrasted with lyrical, liquid slow movements that use the resources of the modern instrument while remaining idiomatic. A lovely Vivaldi recording recommended for a first 'Four Seasons' or even for those who own many versions.