Nigel Kennedy (the A-Side)

Nigel Kennedy talks about his record breaking 1989 recording of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons.

Series in which leading performers and songwriters talk about the album that made them or changed them.

Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios, each edition includes two episodes - the A-side and B-side.

In the A-side, Nigel Kennedy. talks to John Wilson about the best-selling classical work of all time.

Having trained at both the Yehudi Menuhin School of Music and the Juilliard School in New York, Nigel Kennedy has developed into one of the most popular classical musicians of his generation. This in no small part is due to the phenomenal success of his recording of The Four Seasons in 1989. At the time he explained that he set out to use "every kind of technique I know" to communicate his feeling for the music to his listeners.

Kennedy's passion for non-classical music has seen him play alongside The Who and Kate Bush, record violin-based versions of songs by The Doors and Jimi Hendrix, and release an album for the jazz label Blue Note Sessions. However, The Four Seasons retains a special place in his repertoire, and in 2015 he released a completely fresh take on Vivaldi's violin concertos.

Nigel Kennedy talks about the album that earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records, and performs exclusive excerpts from the concertos that helped make him famous.

In the B-side of the programme, it's the turn of the audience to ask the questions.

Producers: Paul Kobrak

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2016.