by Ryan Ross
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64; Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 26. Johan Dalene, violin; Gemma New/Malin Broman, conductors; Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra; Kaspars Putniņš, choral conductor; Swedish Radio Choir. BIS 2610
Actually, I have nothing against Mr. Dalene. He’s an excellent violinist, and still very young. It’s not his fault that his playing doesn’t have the character of the legends I just named. But after all, he’s putting himself out there, and I can’t see the point in not being honest. Most people will be well served by this Mendelssohn performance. Conductor/concertmaster Malin Broman and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra all provide solid support for Dalene, even if at times they impose themselves slightly overmuch. And maybe it’s just my imagination, or Dalene’s interpretive style, but his tone sometimes sounds a tad huskier or scratchier than the rich ones in the best recordings. The finale tends to be where the cream rises to the top, and here I detect these minor imperfections rather more insistently. Again, it’s all fine…but not in the S-tier, and certainly no better than dozens of other performances I’ve heard. It’ll all do, certainly. But not if you’re seeking “great” rather than just “excellent.”
Similar things could be said for the Bruch, although here I’m all the more needing a “presence” that Dalene doesn’t quite provide. He acquits himself very respectably, but there’s something extra missing. I’m afraid his supporting cast here doesn’t completely help him, as it’s even more invasive than in the Mendelssohn. Or maybe I notice it more because the Bruch is so much a “soloist’s” concerto, and the SRSO at times almost sounds like they’re covering, or even competing, with him in the character department. Conductor Gemma New and Company supply a fire that I wish Dalene matched. Will the casual listener care about any of this? Probably not. But I’d be interested to know how many other longtime fans of the concerto hear what I do.
I would have been happy to end this review right here with a “solid yet undistinguished” verdict, and to have begun my next Classical Candor project forthwith. But alas, there is one remaining item on this release: a 2019 arrangement by Paul Drayton of Ralph Vaughan Williams’s The Lark Ascending for violin and choir. I wish I could tell you that this is a version of the beloved work that you didn’t know you needed. But if you’re like me, you’ll listen to it and know that it was never needed. It might have been okay were it just a question of the choir taking the place of the orchestra. That’s harmless enough, right? But Drayton felt compelled to have the choir sing parts of the poetry by George Meredith that forms an epigraph to the work. The result sounds every bit as cheesy as you can imagine. It smacks of wanting to include a novelty that flatters Dalene’s artistry in a way his traditional performances here don’t quite achieve. It’s also a gimmick designed to cash in on The Lark’s popularity, and I’m sorry to say that it will probably work if for no other reason than its stoking of sheer curiosity. Still, I regret that one of a number of shorter, neglected works for violin and orchestra couldn’t have been included in its original form instead. There’s something to be said for blazing trails, an activity eminently suited to Dalene’s gifts. But he misses the opportunity, and so we’re left with a mildly frustrating mixture of unremarkable + remarkable in the wrong way.
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