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Site review by Polly Nomial February 1, 2007
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Performance: Sonics (MC): |
This latest Julia Fischer and Yakov Kreizberg recording is made with the Russian National Orchestra instead of the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra that was employed for their Mozart concerto cycle (the Sinfonia Concertante is still awaited but promised).
Like all of Fischer's recordings to date, all feature the same characteristics: superlative technique, rock solid intonation and a wide range of tone colour which is allied to a sensitive and engaging musical imagination. Unlike the other recent releases of the concerto on SACD (Tchaikovsky, Korngold: Violin Concerto - Mutter and Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto etc. - Joshua Bell) this is somewhat more urgent in the first movement. Coming in a full 1'30 ahead of Bell, there is no haste nor lack of clarity but a more overtly Romantic approach than either Mutter or Bell allow themselves: when the music is more introverted, a calmer and soulful approach is adopted but when the music calls for the musicians to let rip, the notes almost explode from the speakers!
The slow movement is a genuine Canzonetta - no syrup is in evidence and yet the heartfelt expression from the superb woodwinds and Fischer would be enough to melt anyone's aversion to Tchaikovsky. The care which Kreizberg moulds the opening is wonderful, normally the woodwind dialogue between themselves and the soloist is played down but not here. The strings slink in and take over from the woodwind in a manner that Karajan would have approved of for the smoothness but Abbado would also approve from the pointing of the phrases - really quite marvellous.
The finale is, as one would expect from these musicians other recordings, tremendously exciting. It is not that the tempo adopted is especially quick (although it's not slow). Instead it is the lightning changes of dynamic and character, all executed at the same time as linking into the longer line of the music that make it so exciting. Unlike Mutter's recording, there is no hold up into the second subject and Fischer/Kreizberg make a quicker return to the core tempo than many others. It must also be said that the orchestral contribution is the most exciting I have heard since Abbado & the BPO for Vengerov - no mean feat! One feels as the final chord dies away, cheated that there is no roar of applause that there surely would have been had this been a concert performance - that it was not speaks volumes about the electricity that these artists generate.
The rest of the programme is no less enjoyable. For the substantial "encores", we are served up with the Sérénade mélancolique Op.26, the Valse-Scherzo Op.34 and the delightful tryptich Souvenir d'un lieu cher Op.42 (Bell offers Op.42/1 only on his disc which is a shame as there was more than enough room to fit the other two parts on). The first two are concertante works for violin and orchestra which are beautifully rendered with virtuosity of the highest order in both: the Sérénade is self-effacing, the Valse-Scherzo needs a more outward display. We get both from Fischer and the wonderful RNO. Kreizberg then sets down his baton for the piano and proves to be just as sensitive a pianist as he is a conductor.
The sound is the finest that Pentatone have yet achieved from the DZZ Studio 5 in Moscow (the Souvenir was recorded in Hilversum no less successfully) with a wonderful sense of presence for all instruments together with a clarity and staging that only a great MCH recording can bring.
Wonderful!
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Copyright © 2007 John Broggio and SA-CD.net
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Site review by Castor October 26, 2006
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Performance: Sonics (MC): |
Julia Fischer’s eagerly awaited SACD of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto triumphantly justifies PentaTone’s decision to record it in spite of their already having two recommendable versions of this work by Christian Tetzlaff and Arthur Grumiaux in their catalogue.
As in her award-winning recording of Russian Violin Concertos Russian Violin Concertos - Fischer/Kreizberg, she is accompanied by Yakov Kreizberg, this time in dual role as conductor and pianist. As is clear from their earlier recordings together the Fischer / Kreizberg partnership is something special, and throughout this disc one gets a sense of them working together in complete accord.
From the soloist’s rapt entry at the start of the work to the wonderful sweep of the first tutti (note the thrilling trumpets) this is a spell binding performance and one that stresses the lyrical beauty of the score. Julia Fischer brings out all the beauties of the solo part, often using a subtle rubato that, while never impeding the forward momentum of the music, allows every phrase to tell.
The cadenza is a miracle of both precision and imaginative fantasy, and here the recording demonstrates how perfectly it has captured both the positioning of the soloist within the spacious acoustic and the sweetness of her tone.
The sorrowful Canzonetta, taken a fraction slower than is often the case, is played with much light and shade and there is a magical interplay between soloist and woodwind in the central section (from 3.50 onwards). It makes the same passage in the Tetzlaff / Nagano version sound positively mundane.
The Finale opens with tremendous attack from the orchestra and soloist – listen to those pizzicatos (0.24)! Fischer does not gallop away, as some do, to make the movement into just a virtuoso vehicle, but she certainly observes the Vivacissimo marking, and Kreizberg allows the woodwind to phrase the lovely second subject with an elegance and grace that is matched by the soloist. The very fast ending is quite breathtaking and would, I am sure, bring any concert audience to its feet.
The nostalgic ‘Sérénade Mélancholique’ allows us to appreciate Julia Fischer’s ability to sustain a long melodic line. It is one of Tchaikovsky’s least known and performed works, so it is wonderful to have it in such a deeply felt performance as this. It contrasts well with the delightful ‘Valse - Scherzo’, again another rarity that is played with great virtuosity and a terrific sense of fun making light of its formidable difficulties.
Finally, Yakov Kreizberg leaves the conductor’s podium to accompany Julia Fischer most sympathetically in the three movement ‘Souvenir d’un lieu cher’. The intimacy and sadness of Meditation is captured by the performance, although I would have preferred a slightly less close balance, allowing more air round the two instruments, and perhaps a less anonymous sounding acoustic signature than that of MCO Studio 5, Hilverum in which these three pieces were recorded.
The Scherzo is played with amazing quicksilver virtuosity, while the final Melodie has both simplicity and a winning charm that brings this superb SACD to its conclusion.
It need hardly be said that PentaTone’s recording, engineered by Erdo Groot and Jean-Marie Geijsen is of the highest quality, matching these most musical of performances and capturing them in glorious sound.
A top recommendation and an essential purchase!
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Copyright © 2006 Graham Williams and SA-CD.net
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Review by fafnir December 23, 2006 (15 of 18 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics (MC): |
All too often one had high expectations for a disc only to be disappointed either with the performance, the sound, or sometimes both. In the case of Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, the bar for me was set very high. For 50 years (I can hardly believe it) the Heifetz/Reiner recording has been the standard. This performance has been imprinted in me to an extent that all others seemed second best.
Therefore, I am pleased to say that Heifetz needs to move over; this performance is fantastic and the recording is as good as you can get. If fact, I have little to add to Castor's excellent review. This is a great disc and an essential SACD purchase - easily one of the top ten for 2006 or any other year.
I eagerly await the Brahms and Mozart discs to be released this year.
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