Russian Violin Concertos [Hybrid SACD]

Russian Violin Concertos [Hybrid SACD]

Russian Violin Concertos [Hybrid SACD]
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CD Details

Composer: Alexander Glazunov
Composer: Aram Khachaturian
Composer: Sergey Prokofiev
Conductor: Yakov Kreizberg
Orchestra: Russian National Orchestra
Performer: Julia Fischer
Edition: Music CD
Format: Hybrid SACD - DSD
CD Release Date: 2004-12-14
Music Label: Pentatone
Soundtracks:
  1. Violin Concerto in D minor (also arranged for violin & piano): Allegro con fermezza
  2. Violin Concerto in D minor (also arranged for violin & piano): Andante sostenuto
  3. Violin Concerto in D minor (also arranged for violin & piano): Allegro vivace
  4. Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major, Op. 19: Andantino - Andante assai
  5. Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major, Op. 19: Scherzo (Vivacissimo)
  6. Violin Concerto in A minor, Op. 82: Moderato -
  7. Violin Concerto in A minor, Op. 82: Andante -
  8. Violin Concerto in A minor, Op. 82: Allegro

Music reviews of Russian Violin Concertos [Hybrid SACD]

Music Review: An Impressive Début Disc
Rating: 5 Stars

Although this is not the young Julia Fischer's first recording, it is the first she has done in SACD format on the PentaTone label with whom she has signed as an exclusive artist. The CD came out in late 2004, if I'm not mistaken, and she has since released the Bach Partitas and Sonatas, and most recently a disc of Mozart Violin Concerti. I gave a rave to the latter here at Amazon. I had not heard this début disc until recently and was, I will admit, a little concerned that she might be too 'classical' a violinist to make the most of these mostly extrovert Russian concerti. I was wrong to have any hesitation; she plays them with verve, wit, style and plenty of extroversion where needed. But she also brings to them an inwardness -- particularly in the Prokofiev First, which certainly has a veil of mystery about it -- that makes them seem fresh.

In recent times the Khachaturian Concerto has to some extent fallen from favor. When I was a youth it was one of the big modern Russian concerti along with Prokofiev 2 and, late in the 1950s, the Shostakovich 1, and one heard it in concert with some regularity. Happily there has been a bit of a revival lately, in spite of the tendency of some critics and programmers to think it is rather lightweight and too much of a populist work. Whatever the drawbacks it might have, it is an extremely effective piece with plenty of Khachaturian's Armenian flavorings, lots of rhythmic interest and virtuosity galore. Fischer brings to it a musicianly concern for dynamic subtlety and nuanced phrasing along with complete mastery of the concerto's technical difficulties. She eschews the Oistrakh edition of the concerto -- he extended the first movement cadenza and cut some measures in the finale -- and uses Khachaturian's original version. This is a first-class performance of a wonderful concerto which is worth one's attention.

One cannot but adore Prokofiev's First Violin Concerto. And one cannot say enough about the masterful orchestration Prokofiev provides, with harp intertwined with violin harmonics and extraordinarily plangent woodwind writing. The Russian National Orchestra, a group formed not long after the breakup of the Soviet Union and the stirrings of a new freedom in Russia, is a marvelous group. Their conductor here is Yakov Kreizberg, incidentally the brother of the probably better-known conductor Semyon Bychkov, who is making a very favorable impression these days. I've heard a number of his recent recordings and am mightily impressed with his formally clear approach that is, ironically, coupled with a really poetic sensibility. Clarity and poetry make wonderful partners in his recordings. Both Kreizberg and Fischer show us the darker side of the Prokofiev and in the process present it as the lyrical yet fierce work it is.

Glazunov's concerto is a late Romantic work in one movement. It is notable for its heartfelt lyricism, gorgeous tunes, and the equality of the orchestral principals with the violin soloists. It is really more like a symphony with violin obbligato, particularly in the long and lovely andante middle section. That aspect of the work is emphasized here and one must give credit to Fischer and the recording engineers for allowing that to shine through. Fischer is more generous, even self-effacing, in this than some soloists in other recordings the concerto has had (Perlman, Heifetz) and this is to the benefit of the work's effect. (A comparable concerto, to give you some idea of what I mean, is Brahms's Second Piano Concerto where the piano is not always the spotlighted star.) This is a genial reading with Fischer's burnished tone riding above and around the contributions by the orchestra. The folksong aspects of the finale are emphasized and one is left with a kind of uplift that makes one want to start the concerto all over again.

This is, make no mistake, a marvelous disc and I cannot recommend it highly enough. In addition, all three concerti are given strikingly lifelike sound.

Scott Morrison
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