Customer Reviews

Jean Sibelius / Carl Nielsen: Violin Concertos - Maxim Vengerov / Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Daniel Barenboim

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When it comes to couplings, you simply cannot beat this one, the two greatest violin concertos from Scandinavia. The Nielsen, in four movements but with only one break, is highly underrated. It may not be the most beautiful violin concerto but it is powerful and quite original. The performance here is simply spectacular. The playing by Vengerov in the Sibelius is also on a very high level but I find the conducting of Barenboim to be cold and totally uninspired. If you already have a great recording of the Sibelius but none of the Nielsen, go ahead and purchase this CD. I believe you will love the Nielsen.

I grew up listening to the Heifetz/Hendl/Chicago Symphony Orchestra performance of the Sibelus. That recording fully deserves all of the praise that it has received over the years. In spite of his perfect technique, Heifetz was sometimes critized for a purported lack of "charm" and "warmth" - perhaps, but these are certainly not qualities required for this concerto, and the entire recording, which has never been out of the catalog since its release in the 1960s, is embued with a cold fire. Other recordings, such as those of Chung/Previn, Oistrach/Ormandy, and Lin/Salonen are also all wonderful in their own ways.
Here, with Barenboim leading the same CSO that performed so marvelously for Hendl, I've never heard this concerto played so slowly. There is no reason why such a pace couldn't work. Certainly, many of the movements from the composer's symphonies can, and should be taken with great broadness and concentration, and they sound wonderful that way. Its a tribute to Vengerov that he can maintain the long line, but here Barenboim projects turgidity rather than lyrical sweep. And in the 3rd movement, the polar bears don't dance.

In the Nielsen, it is as if a different conductor were leading the band, with Barenboim and Vengerov producing one of the most distinguished recordings that I've ever heard of the work.

The 3 stars for the album represent 5 for the Nielson, and one for the Sibelius.

Most listeners will buy this CD for the Sibelius concerto and stay (perhaps) for the Nielsen, but it's the latter that is the real triumph. I was going to do a comparative review of versions from Nikolaj Znaider, Cho-Liang Lin, and Vengerov, but as I listened it quickly became apparent that there wasn't any comparison. Vengerov applies amazing finesse to Nielsen's sometimes enigmatic writing. He finds humor in the folk-dance tune at the end and passion in the opening cadenza that none of the others equals. Barenboim gives an alert, sympathetic accompaniment. Five stars without a doubt.

The Sibelius is more problematic. I agree with the reviewer below who places blame squarely with Barenboim, whose conducting is slow, mannered, and uninspired--a very poor showing unless you happen to like him unconditionally. Vengerov does his best to adapt, and he exhibits playing that is often intensely involving. On the ohter hand, he shreds his attacks in the finale (taken at a lumpish tempo) and ultimately can't carry the whole work himself. Three stars for a missed opportunity.

I cannnot understand why this recording is getting such widely disparate reviews from other listeners since it seems obvious to me that this is an essentail, masterpiece recording of these two compositions. This is especiually true of the Sibelius Violin Concerto. I can't imagine anyone (other than Vangerov)ever playing this any better. I have at least five recordings of this concerto but none are as good as this one although Anne Sophie-Mutter's recording is right up there with Vengerov's reading of this concerto. The biggest difference is the recording and orchestration on this record are better. For me, even though this is not a particularly difficult piece to listen to I now feel like I had never truly heard or understood this music until I heard this recording.

However, with that said, the Nielson piece may be the knockout recording on this CD. This could have been written for Vengerov since it diplays both his virtousity, his depth of expression and his unmatched ability to make wildly opposing musical statements seem coherent.

Five stars to Vengerov for his unmatched performance and five more stars to Barrenboim for his help in making this music happen in the first place.

1 star just for playing the wonderful Sibelius and 1 more for the rarely performed Nielsen. However the performance and recording is just plain awful. The sound is flimsy and detached, none of the brooding, icy fire that I usu. enjoy in this music. The Oistrakh version still reigns supreme at the moment.

I find it interesting to see such polarized ratings on this CD. I think that both sides of the argument have a great deal of validity, but overall, this is a very nice CD.

First of all, the clenliness of the playing is rather sloppy. There is occasional bow noise and intonation issues, as well as rather sloppy-sounding runs. The general rhythmicism of the piece could be improved. I also will acknowledge that the interpretation is not always well though out and that the phrasing, dynamics, and timbre could be better exaggerated. There factors all combine to make a rather sloppy CD.

However, Vengerov deserves a great deal of recognition for his forceful playing, full volume, excellent articulation, and great tonal quality. If a bit sloppy, his playing is very powerful and energetic. He also seems to have a better sense of style than Shaham and Bell.

Combined with the fact that the Sibelius is one of the top violin masterpieces and that the Nielsen is a rarely heard masterpiece, I would strongly recommend this CD, as it is the best Sibelius I have heard so far. There's definitely room for improvement, but I'm impressed.

Maxim Vengerov is a great player, that's why I'm giving this cd 3 stars. His interpretation of this piece, however, is not very good. I recommend buying Nigel Kennedy's Just Listen cd for a better recording.

I cannot imagine a more sloppy recording of these two masterpieces. I had to get rid of the CD after the first hearing - it was simply too embarrassing to have in my collection.

For the Nielsen Concerto go to Emil Telmanyi and the Royal Orchestra conducted by Tango on Danacord. The Sibelius has several good recordings, my favourite is Ferras with the BPO and Karajan (Sibelius himself said about Karajan that he was the only conductor who really understood his music).

I don't know how Vengerov thought out this interpretation of the Sibelius. It is completely awful. It never makes sense and seems to go exactly in the opposite way than one would expect. I'm sure Vengerov is capable of producing a much better version. Maybe in another 20 or 30 years!!! The Nielsen does go a bit better.

Sibelius Violin Concerto is awesome and Maxim Vengerov is d'man!!! What a fantastic CD - highly recommended.