Customer Reviews

Mozart: Violin Concertos Nos. 2 & 4; Sinfonia concertante

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

 

 

Hearing the Sinfonia Concertante from this disc played on the radio a few months ago, I was instantly mesmerized. This is a fresh, contemporary account influenced by historically informed performance, above all in the importance placed on variegated articulation to convey the meaning of a phrase. The Verbier Orchestra is a group of appropriately Mozartean dimensions: the strings use fast bow speeds and minimal vibrato, resulting in fresh, transparent textures and a warm, glowing sound. And they use Just intonation - a balm to the ears! As violinist, Vengerov produces a gossamer tone that is perfect for Mozart. He and violist Lawrence Power achieve an amazing symbiosis: in the andante they sustain a dialogue of lacerating dramatic intensity, and elsewhere they trill in unison and weave ringlets of notes around each other with perfect synergy. As conductor, Vengerov has the orchestra experiment with bold dynamics and accents, bestowing freshness and pungency on every phrase. One notices too the attention given to Mozart's accompanimental figures: they all sound different and meaningful, from the throbbing oboes at the start of the SINFONIA's andante to the burbling strings in the andante of the Second Concerto (that movement, by the way is a standout - magically played by Vengerov and the orchestra). I'm at a loss to understand the negative reviews of this disc; it is nothing less than splendid!

(I have to take issue with another customer's remark about the slowness of the first movement of the Sinfonia; considering that the marking is Allegro Maestoso, I think Vengerov's tempo is perfect.)

One morning my radio alarm awoke me with the Sinfonia Concertante on this CD. It was immediately clear that this was a must buy album. The predominantly lyrical approach was clearly intended by Vengerov. According to the liner notes he looked for stylistic hints from specialists in early Mozart opera. The result is splendidly effective performances that are not quite the current mainstream. For me that is a good thing, since current performance standards seem narrow, mechanical, and self consciously brilliant to a fault. Having been familiar with these pieces for over 40 years, this CD was a refreshment.

I'm writing this review after hearing the Sinfonia Concertante played on NPR (National Public Radio.) I'm a professional musician (flutist) and I have a special love for Mozart -- I already own 3 recordings of this work. As soon as they started playing this recording my ears perked up. This performance is breathtaking! The opening is slower than I've always heard it, but the playing is so full of nuances, the rhythms bouncing playfully, gentle changes in dynamics that match exactly what's going on in the lines of the music... that it didn't feel slow AT ALL. Rather, these musicians take their time to communicate more in each measure of music than any other recording or performance I've heard to date (and I've heard some excellent performances and own some great recordings.)

I was especially impressed by the ensemble between the 2 soloists. It literally feels like the same person (or Hindu deity with 4 arms, perhaps) is playing both violin and viola parts -- they are so "in sync" with each other. At the end of the 2nd mvmt cadenza, they do a long trill together. They start the trill slowly, speed it up, sustain it and then slow it back down -- ALL PERFECTLY IN UNISON -- any musician would realize how incredibly difficult that is to do. The effect is stunning.

I was so impressed with the performance that I immediately looked it up on Amazon to see what else was on the album. When I checked the customer reviews, out of curiosity, I was dumbfounded by what I read. I skimmed through a few of them, all negative, and decided to write one purely out of a sense of fairness. Everyone has a right to their opinion. Mine is that this is an absolutely wonderful recording of a great work that presents it in a new light -- by musicians with a very strong sense of Mozartean style who illuminate the work brilliantly. I felt so sorry for those poor reviewers who couldn't hear that. They really missed out on something!

There was a time when now 32-year-old Maxim Vengerov was thought to be the reincarnation of David Oistrakh. If Oistrakh heard this terrible Mozart musicmaking, he'd not want mention in any such correlation. If your idea of Mozart is to play his solo violin works slowly and to make the composer's early work sound prissy -- as if the young and vibrant Mozart was as sickly and pale-skinned as the mature Chopin -- in oddly framed and heavy-footed textures with Mozart's lifeforce essentially drained, you'll like this recording.

Vengerov conducts as well as plays and, believe me, he is a lousy conductor. Medicore orchestral playing is mated to odd and sloppy phrasing that's often interrupted by transitions that emphasize inappropriately heavy downbeats in dotted rhythm fashion, as if he took 4/4 timing and switched it to 3/4 with three heavy boots stomping the notes.

The conductor's inattention to mediocre orchestral playing is consistent. No section of the orchestra is asked to give much; woodwinds are light, brief and sometimes hidden, horns are plangent and stillborn, and the string playing is just as prissy as Vengerov's solo work. I don't think it's out of class to say this is one of the worst Mozart recordings I've heard in 35 years' listening -- at least of the ones I can recall. There is, to my mind, hardly a redeeming factor about this recording that makes it either pleasurable or desirable.

For Vengerov completists, the sound is OK, he plays all the notes, sometimes well, and the accompanying essay outlines Vengerov's wayward approach to the composer and his music, saying he compares these works to Mozart's early operas. In one of the great moments of irony in the history of written notes accompanying recordings, Vengerov says, "My only indulgence was the style of cadenza." If only, indeed! The UBS Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra, a group of 17-29-year-olds established in 2000, does nothing to save this recording. You shouldn't either.

No question Vengerov is a superb virtuoso violinist, but his interpretations of Mozart's lovely concertos seem to find him ill at ease or at least uncertain about how to proceed with the material. He just never seems to get quite comfortable, as is evident in the slow movements where his playing of the beautiful melodies never come close to acquiring the required sense of grace and elegance that they should possess. For a performer who so magically mastered the complexities of Shostakovich and Prokofiev, Vengerov has yet to resolve a set of very different challenges in Mozart's far less technically demanding concertos. Great sounding CD, though.

I'm rarely startled by the opening bars of a performance as much as when Vengerov begins the great Mozart Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat K. 364. Not only is the tempo quite measured, but there is a strong accented push on the thrid chord, a touch not heard in other readings. One also notes the period-flavor violin tone with its minimal vibrato. A few bars later we get more quirky accents from the oboes, so it's apparent that Vengerov has something new to say. Subduing his vvirtuosity completely, his first entry is understated, almost recessive. Violist Lawrence Power follows his lead in a performance that can be called either thoughtful or lagging. There's little joy or excitement, a shock from the great Russian violinist, who serves as his own conductor, and a routine one at that. There are lots of personal touches throughout in terms of phrasing and accents, but since it's Vengerov who invented them and not Mozart, I found most of them jarring.

The coupling consists of two Mozart violin concertos, the second and fourth, played in the same understated style, the allegro finales being distinctly pale and joyless. One hears how refined Vengerov wants to be, and yet I never quite paid attention. The Verbier Festival Orch. is expert, and EMI's sound is fine. But in the end I felt that Vengerov was primarily palying for himself.

A true enigma, Vengerov. In person one of the most extraordinary fiddlers I've heard. Yet, his recordings have been variable at best. For every Shostakovich/Prokofiev 1 (with Rostropovich, surprise!), there's a substandard Sibelius/Nielsen (with Barenboim, no surprise). For every delightful "Vengerov with Virtuosi" from 2001, there's, well, this misbegotten Mozart programme. From the lugubrious opening bars of the Sinfonia Concertante to the two concerti, this is terrible stuff - boring and unMozartian. What should be clear by now is Vengerov is more dependent than most on the musical opinions of his collaborators. When his is the primary musical intellect, you're likely to end up with something that sounds no way like the work of a great artist.... something like this.

No idea what EMI thought about to publish such a poor recording. This is in no way mozart. It lacks nearly everything. This is the worst version of Mozarts Violin concertos. Go with Giuliano Carmignola and avoid this version.