Customer Reviews

Mendelssohn, Bruch: Violin Concertos / McDuffie, Swensen

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For a number of years Joseph Swenson was one of the important young violinists on the concert stage, a musician with thoughtful and insightful and poetic interpretations of all of the major violin concerti. So it is no wonder now that at the helm as conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra he is able to provide some of the finest orchestral collaboration around for the concerti he once soloed.

Here Swenson is joined by the equally superb and tasteful violinist Robert McDuffie in pitch perfect performances of two favorite 'war horses' of the violin repertoire - the Mendelssohn E minor concerto and the Bruch G minor concerto. The fire and ice of each is balanced by a purity of tone and perceptive approach to the works from the first to the last measures.

For this listener the Bruch has the slight edge, probably due to the fact that this concerto often is played as though it were a jousting match between violinist and orchestra: tutti parts excepted, the individual passages vie for splendor and cancel the full impact. Not so with McDuffie and Swenson. There is a compatibility of thought and execution that can only come when the conductor has full respect and appreciation for the soloist's hurdles. This is as exciting yet as correct a performance of the Bruch as any on record.

Swenson draws a rich, lush and large sound from the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and demonstrates his knowledge of the orchestration intricacies of both concerti. Keep an eye on Swenson - he sounds as though he will become as important a conductor as he was a violinist! This recording is as fine as any in the catalogue of these two big works. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, May 06

I knew nothing of Robert McDuffie until I heard him perform the Mendelssohn Concerto at Wolf Trap with the National Symphony. That performance led me to seek out this CD, and McDuffie's playing here is as lovely on the disc as it was in the live performance. His tone may not be as big as Itzhak Perlman's, but it is nevertheless exquisite (the phrase "spun silver," though cliched, is apt). This is true concerto playing, the soloist carrying on a conversation with the orchestra (and, by extension, with the listener). I definitely will seek out more of McDuffie's discs, and I hope others will, too.

Mcduffie provides fine performances of these two concertante workhorses. He is very well accompanied by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra led by Swensen (himself a violinist). Telarc has once again done a marvelous job recording these performances to the highest audiophile standards.