Last year I bought an LP collection that include 17 different versions of the Four Seasons. So I grabbed 6 or 7 more that I already had and spent the entire evening doing a "shootout", by listening only to the "Spring" movement for each.
The Winner for my tastes was a 1985 version on the BIS label by the Drottingholm Baroque Ensemble, Nils-Erik Sparf on baroque violin. It's an original instrument version including recorder, lute, baroque basson, and viola d'amore. The instrumentation is not just a gimmick here - the conducting and performance bring forth the soul of this piece, and the recording captures it. It was a digital recording and it's also available on CD (BIS-CD-275).
Close, but different, 2nd place did go to the Trevor Pinnock / Simon Standage version mentioned by Ncarv above. A mainstream version, but played, conducted, and recorded perfectly. Not as edgy as the BIS, but thoroughly engaging and a must have as a "reference" version IMO.
3rd place went to an unusual, aggressive (Enescu-esque) version contained in a 1966 Supraphon spiral-bound 3 record Baroque set. It could really be a co-2nd place - hard to compare because it's so different than ALL the others.
If I am reading the Czech correctly it is Bohdan Warchal, violin and conducting the Slovak Chamber Orchestra. I seriously doubt it has made it to CD.
There were very few others that I felt were worth keeping after those 3. Many just didn't achieve a good balance between the continuo harpsichord and the orchestra (or omitted it entirely) or were played droningly slow, manically fast, or just didn't have "soul".
I do keep the Telarc around, but mostly because it seem a shame to put a hole in my Telarc collection. I think it came in around 6th or 7th.
