Beethoven: Violin Concerto (CD review)

Also, Romances for Violin and Orchestra. Christian Tetzlaff, violin; David Zinman, Tonhalle Orchestre Zurich. Brilliant Classics 94857.

If you're a fan of what of what Maestro David Zinman and his Tonhalle Orchestre Zurich did with Beethoven's symphonies, you'll probably like what they and German violinist Christian Tetzlaff do with the Violin Concerto. The performances are of the same mold.

This is not to suggest that everyone will like Zinman/Tetzlaff's interpretation, however. Zinman adopts speeds that approach Beethoven's own tempo markings, which is to say zippy, and Tetzlaff uses several solo cadenzas that the composer originally wrote for one of the piano concertos. (Beethoven had later transcribed his violin concerto as a piano concerto, and Tetzlaff borrowed the cadenzas from it because he didn't think any of the other cadenzas written by other people fit in properly.)

Whatever, a lot of folks have grown up with slower, now more-traditional tempi in the concerto, and just as they might rebel against period-instrument groups following faster speeds, they might protest the fast speeds Zinman and his modern orchestra embrace. Likewise, a lot of especially older folks may have gotten so used to the cadenzas written by such notables as Fritz Kreisler or Joseph Joachim, that they could find Beethoven's own cadenzas, albeit for another work, alien to the violin piece. So the Zinman-Tetzlaff performance is not without its idiosyncrasies, for good or for bad.

My own reaction to the tempos and cadenzas was one of indifference given the spirit and vitality of the performance as a whole. While theirs does not sound like a conventional reading, the artists present a thoroughly enjoyable realization of the score. Tetzlaff offers up violin playing that sounds sweet, pure, and extremely articulate, while Zinman and his ensemble accompany him with a warm, lyrical, affectionate support. Together, one hardly notices the gait is quicker than usual (except in period-instrument renditions where we expect a speedier attack) or that the cadenzas are at all out of place.

Tetzlaff shows a fine craftsmanship and virtuosity throughout his playing yet never resorts to any undue showmanship. His performance is a welcome antidote to many of the more dreamy-eyed, sentimental interpretations available on record. While Tetzlaff's clearly focused reading cuts more quickly to the core than many of his competitors, however, it never fails to retain the emotional spirit of Beethoven. He succeeds in balancing the composer's more somber moods with the work's generally cheerful, uplifting countenance.

David Zinman

Moreover, Maestro Zinman accompanies Tetzlaff with an appropriate vigor (just listen to the intensity of those drumbeats in the first movement), and the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra prove that their musical skills are every bit as virtuosic as the soloist's. Altogether, this rendition of Beethoven may or may not conform to everybody's idea of what the violin concerto should sound like, but one can hardly deny that Tetzlaff and company don't execute it well. While it may not be an absolute number-one choice in this repertoire, it is surely a feasible alternative.

As a coupling, Tetzlaff provides Beethoven's Romances for Violin and Orchestra, Nos. 1 and 2. Interestingly, the composer wrote the second of the Romances several years before he wrote the first one, but because of their order of publication, the latter one gets the earlier number. And it's not even clear why Beethoven wrote them; that is, for what occasion. In any case, they are highly popular and strongly Romantic. The Romance No. 1 is the slightly more serious of the two, which may have something to do with Beethoven's own development as a composer. Accordingly, Tetzlaff approaches the first piece with sense of loving restraint, beautifully carried out and offering a touch of nostalgia along the way. In No. 2 we hear Tetzlaff in a somewhat more-imposing though still highly refined mode. Very nice.

Producer Chris Hazell and engineer Simon Eadon recorded the music at Tonhalle Zurich, Switzerland in May 2005, originally releasing it on the Arte Nova label. Brilliant Classics rereleased it in 2015 under license from Sony Music Entertainment. The sound displays a good sense of depth in the orchestra, as well as a clean overall appearance, with little bass overhang. There's a good dynamic impact and range, too, and a fairly well balanced frequency response, showing little brightness, edginess, or dullness. If anything, there appears to be a small degree of upper midrange forwardness, although it's hardly noticeable and, in fact, adds to the overall clarity of the sonics. Both the high and low ends seem pretty well extended, though not exaggerated in any way, and the midrange is nicely transparent. The sound, in short, complements the unexaggerated nature of the music making.

JJP

To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click here:

Schumann: Symphonies Nos. 1-4 (CD review)

Also, Overture, Scherzo & Finale. Wolfgang Sawallisch, Staatskapelle Dresden. EMI 7243 5 67771 2 5 (2-disc set).

I first bought these four symphonies with the late conductor and pianist Wolfgang Sawallisch just shortly after he recorded them in 1972. I instantly fell in love with the performances, but I thought the sound was rather obscure, wallowing, I felt, in excessive hall reverberation, details clouded and fogged over. A few years later I found and bought an imported set of the LPs pressed in Germany, which rendered them in slightly clearer but still rather veiled sound. That set sufficed until EMI transferred the recordings to CD in 1988 in their Studio line. This time, I found the sound substantially improved, but it still retained a small degree of veiling that bothered me.

Which brings us to the present set. In 2002 EMI reissued all four symphonies plus the Overture, Scherzo & Finale in a two-disc "Great Recordings of the Century" set remastered in their ART (Abbey Road Technology) format. The sound appeared a jot smoother and a tad clearer yet, making it the best transfer of these imposing interpretations I had yet encountered. But, who knows? Now that Warner Classics own the rights to EMI recordings, maybe they'll reissue them yet again in America (as they have, apparently, in Japan--in SACD, no less), and we'll be able to hear the master tapes better than ever.

Anyway, EMI wisely chose to bundle the pieces in the order Schumann wrote them, with Symphonies Nos. 1 and 4 on the first disc, along with the Overture, and Symphonies Nos. 2 and 3 on the second disc. (No. 4 may have a later number, but Schumann actually wrote it second. It came by its present designation because Schumann made extensive revisions to it later.)

Wolfgang Sawallisch

Sawallisch presents all four works in excellent readings, with an emphasis on structure that may remind one somewhat of Klemperer's readings of the symphonies. No. 1, the "Spring" Symphony, Sawallisch appropriately fills with joyous, youthful exuberance, all of it encompassed in the maestro's big, rock-solid style. No. 4 sounds equally filled with felicitous touches, its closing movement appearing for all the world like a continuation of the First Symphony's opening Andante. Then, the conductor keeps the Overture, Scherzo & Finale--which Schumann viewed as a mini symphony or "symphonette" as he called it--purposely more transparent in texture than the other large-scale pieces. So, disc one includes Schumann's lighter-weight material.

Disc two starts with the Second Symphony, the more somber of the lot and the longest the composer wrote, continuing with the most complex piece, the Third or "Rhenish" Symphony ("Life Along the Rhine"). It is this latter work (along with the joyous First) that perhaps best exemplifies what the man was capable of doing. The Third appears the most unified of the four symphonies, especially under Sawallisch, and in many ways the most memorable in its grand, expansive motifs.

Sawallisch has the measure of each symphony, seldom imposing his any overt idiosyncrasies on them, beyond his own sense of ultimate structure, allowing the music to flow naturally and fully. The Dresden State Orchestra seems the perfect choice of orchestras to play it, too, Dresden being Schumann's home for some of the years preceding his death, besides their being one of the world's great musical ensembles.

At its modest price these days, particularly when one considers its availability used, this EMI set seems almost too good to pass up.

JJP

To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click here:

A Beethoven Odyssey, Volume 4 (CD review)

Piano Sonatas Nos. 9, 15, 24, 25, and 27. James Brawn, piano. MSR Classics MS 1468. 

Every time I listen to a new album by British pianist James Brawn (James Brawn in Recital, A Beethoven Odyssey, Volume 2), I remember again why I so look forward to his releases. He is one of the preeminent pianists of our day and, certainly, one of the handful of relatively young pianists destined for greatness. On this latest disc, A Beethoven Odyssey Volume 4, Brawn continues his cycle of Beethoven's piano sonatas. If, and I assume when, he finishes his survey of all the sonatas, he will have no doubt completed one of the finest sets of Beethoven sonata recordings in the catalogue.

The thing about Brawn that makes his playing stand out is that it's big and full without being big and flashy. That is, while Brawn is as virtuosic as any pianist you'll hear, his virtuosity always serves the music. Like others in his company, he can appear to have ten fingers on each hand, yet he never uses his dexterity to draw attention to himself. His performances are always more subtle and nuanced than that, which probably means he will have more trouble becoming the superstar some record companies encourage. Instead, he reminds me more of a Brendel or Kovacevich in that his playing is thoughtful and purposeful as well as thoroughly entertaining.

Brawn chose five of Beethoven's piano sonatas for this current program, sonatas that he says are "lyrical and life affirming," exhibiting Beethoven's "lighter, more positive nature." As you probably know, Ludwig Beethoven ((1770-1827) wrote thirty-two piano sonatas between the years 1795 and 1822, which means he was writing these pieces throughout most of his adult musical career. Brawn has selected five of these sonatas spanning most of those years, from 1798-1814. Thus, on the present album Brawn's own Beethoven odyssey covers much of Beethoven's own adventurous, musical journey.

First up on the agenda is the Piano Sonata No. 9 in E major, a youthful work that Brawn describes as being in "the spirited key of E." Beethoven would later rearrange it for his String Quartet in F major. Beethoven intentionally left out a conventional slow movement to ensure the piece would maintain its upbeat quality, and Brawn's approach from the outset is lively and sparkling. In fact, the performance is a total delight.

Next, we hear the Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major, nicknamed by Beethoven's publisher the "Pastorale." Surely, one can sense the composer's connection with nature throughout the piece. Here, Beethoven was back to a traditional four-movement setting. Brawn does a terrific job emphasizing the tensions between softer and louder segments, between slower and faster passages whilst never exaggerating the contrasts to the point of drawing our attention wholly to them. His playing seems all of one accord, flowing naturally and seamlessly from note to note, from section to section. In other words, with Brawn every work is an organic whole, not an assembly of random ideas meant to impress the listener in spurts.

James Brawn

After that is the Piano Sonata No. 24 in f-sharp major. Its uplifting moods stand, says Brawn, in sharp contrast to the tragic "Appassionata," written a few years earlier. As Beethoven dedicated No. 24 to his friend and patron Countess Thérèse von Brunsvik, one can understand the nickname "A Thérèse." Of all the sonatas on the program, "A Thérèse" is probably the most gentle and expressive, at least in its first movement. Consequently, Brawn accords it a full measure of sweetness and sensitivity, yet with no hint of sentimentality; and, indeed, he affords the closing Allegro vivace an appropriately energetic reading.

Then, we find the Piano Sonata No. 25 in G major, written in the same year as No. 24. In this sonata Brawn gets to show off a bit, the opening movement requiring an extremely quick and nimble bit of finger work. Nevertheless, there is never any hint that Brawn is actually showing off, and he doesn't so much amaze the listener with his agility as he does amaze one at how musical the piece sounds. With Brawn, it's always about the music, not himself. And there's always that gorgeous Andante to consider, again beautifully played.

Brawn concludes the program with the Piano Sonata No. 27 in E minor from 1814. Musical scholars generally view No. 27 as the transitional work from Beethoven's middle to late piano sonatas, the "Late" sonatas being his final five, Nos. 28-31. Anyway, this last work on the card is clearly more mature than the preceding pieces, seemingly more complex yet equally direct. So is Mr. Brawn's piano playing. He communicates with feeling, with a yearning of the heart and mind. One senses the performer's commitment in every tone, every pitch, every pause, every phrase. Above all, then, Brawn is a communicator, a consummate artist.

Producer Jeremy Hayes and engineer Ben Connellan recorded the sonatas in July 2013, August 2014, and November 2014 at Potton Hall, Suffolk, United Kingdom. The sound matches Mr. Brawn's style in that it's big and warm without being big and flashy. It sounds like a live piano (it's a Steinway grand) played a few yards away from the listener. The room provides a mild and flattering ambient bloom that further enhances the lifelike illusion. Although the piano does not stretch across from one speaker to the other, it is reasonably and realistically close, enough so to remind one of an actual piano in the room with you.

JJP

To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click here: