Also, Schnittke: Violin Concerto No. 3. Vadim Gluzman,
violin; James Gaffigan, Luzerner Sinfonieorchester. BIS 2392.
By John J. Puccio
Another Beethoven Violin Concerto? Well, it’s a popular
piece. Every violinist with aspirations of greatness must play and record it.
And the obsessive Beethoven or classical collector can never get enough of
anything. So where there’s a need, there’s someone to fill it. Fortunately,
this one is pretty good, with Ukrainian-born Israeli violinist Vadim Gluzman
accompanied by conductor James Gaffigan and the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra.
Beethoven wrote the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major in 1806. It received an unfavorable première, and the composer practically shelved it for the rest of his life, never publishing another violin concerto again. The world would have to wait until 1844 before violinist Joseph Joachim and conductor and composer Felix Mendelssohn revived the work, and, needless to say, it has been one of the most important concertos in the genre ever since.
The work begins with a lengthy and fairly laid-back introduction before the violin finally enters with a flourish. A slow, central Larghetto follows, with a lively Rondo to cap things off. Gluzman measures up well to most other soloists in this work, his tempos and spirit well judged. There is nothing revolutionary about his playing; it’s simply exciting and vigorous when it needs to be; lyrical and melodious when it needs to be (the Larghetto wins the day); and straightforward and affecting when it needs to be. It’s a performance that’s never pushy yet never boring. I wouldn’t put it in the Heifetz category, but it’s genial and pleasing enough, and the smoothness of its recording is quite a lot better than most.
Paired with the Beethoven Violin Concerto is the Concerto
No. 3 for violin and chamber orchestra by the Soviet-German composer Alfred
Schnittke (1934-98). Why Schnittke? Probably because of the cadenzas he wrote
for the Beethoven piece. We go from cadenzas to concerto. Simple.
Schnittke wrote his Third Violin Concerto in 1978 for Soviet violinist Oleg Kagan, and, not surprisingly, the cadenza plays an important role in the music making. In fact, the work opens with an extended cadenza, the soloist finally joined by winds. Although the whole piece seems more eccentric to me than musically satisfying, it makes a fascinating listen all the same. It holds one’s attention, while never entirely engaging one’s sympathy or affection. Schnittke’s concerto is a kind of tour-de-force for the soloist, who is almost the entire show. There’s not a lot of dialogue between the violinist and the accompanists at first; they are there merely to hold up the tent. Nevertheless, by the second movement they all join in and work splendidly together, with even a string quartet eventually getting in on the act. Throughout, Gluzman’s playing is impeccable.
Producer Martin Nagorni and engineers Fabian Frank (Schnittke) and Thore Brinkmann (Beethoven) recorded the music at the Kultur und Kongresszentrum Luzern, Seitzerland in November 2017 (Schnittke) and December 2019 (Beethoven). They made it for hybrid SACD/CD playback, meaning that if you have an SACD player, you can enjoy the music in either two-channel or multichannel playback, and if you have a regular CD player, you can enjoy the regular two-channel CD layer. I listened in two-channel SACD.
Either way, CD or SACD, the sound is quite satisfying. Indeed, you could hardly improve upon it. It’s big and warm and robust, without a trace of brightness or edge. Perhaps the soloist could have been better centered, I dunno. The dynamic range is wide; the impact is solid; hall resonance is realistic; transparency is fine; and frequency extremes are more than adequate. Enjoyable listening.
JJP
To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click below:
By John J. Puccio
Beethoven wrote the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major in 1806. It received an unfavorable première, and the composer practically shelved it for the rest of his life, never publishing another violin concerto again. The world would have to wait until 1844 before violinist Joseph Joachim and conductor and composer Felix Mendelssohn revived the work, and, needless to say, it has been one of the most important concertos in the genre ever since.
The work begins with a lengthy and fairly laid-back introduction before the violin finally enters with a flourish. A slow, central Larghetto follows, with a lively Rondo to cap things off. Gluzman measures up well to most other soloists in this work, his tempos and spirit well judged. There is nothing revolutionary about his playing; it’s simply exciting and vigorous when it needs to be; lyrical and melodious when it needs to be (the Larghetto wins the day); and straightforward and affecting when it needs to be. It’s a performance that’s never pushy yet never boring. I wouldn’t put it in the Heifetz category, but it’s genial and pleasing enough, and the smoothness of its recording is quite a lot better than most.
Schnittke wrote his Third Violin Concerto in 1978 for Soviet violinist Oleg Kagan, and, not surprisingly, the cadenza plays an important role in the music making. In fact, the work opens with an extended cadenza, the soloist finally joined by winds. Although the whole piece seems more eccentric to me than musically satisfying, it makes a fascinating listen all the same. It holds one’s attention, while never entirely engaging one’s sympathy or affection. Schnittke’s concerto is a kind of tour-de-force for the soloist, who is almost the entire show. There’s not a lot of dialogue between the violinist and the accompanists at first; they are there merely to hold up the tent. Nevertheless, by the second movement they all join in and work splendidly together, with even a string quartet eventually getting in on the act. Throughout, Gluzman’s playing is impeccable.
Producer Martin Nagorni and engineers Fabian Frank (Schnittke) and Thore Brinkmann (Beethoven) recorded the music at the Kultur und Kongresszentrum Luzern, Seitzerland in November 2017 (Schnittke) and December 2019 (Beethoven). They made it for hybrid SACD/CD playback, meaning that if you have an SACD player, you can enjoy the music in either two-channel or multichannel playback, and if you have a regular CD player, you can enjoy the regular two-channel CD layer. I listened in two-channel SACD.
Either way, CD or SACD, the sound is quite satisfying. Indeed, you could hardly improve upon it. It’s big and warm and robust, without a trace of brightness or edge. Perhaps the soloist could have been better centered, I dunno. The dynamic range is wide; the impact is solid; hall resonance is realistic; transparency is fine; and frequency extremes are more than adequate. Enjoyable listening.
JJP
To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click below:
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