Customer Reviews

Violin Concertos

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Aaron Rosand will remain in the musical story as one of the most daredevil violinists in any age. He has intended by all means to rescue the forgotten romantic repertoire, lost in the memory of eminent musicians and even hard lover listeners. Joachim Hubay's Violin Concerto in D minor, Jeno Hubay's Concerto Op. 99, Enesco' Prelude, Ernst' s Violin Concerto in F -sharp Minor, Op. 23, Ysaye' s Chant's d'hiver in B minor, Lehar's Hungarian Fantasy, Wieniawski's Concert Polonaise in D major, Berlioz's reverie and Caprice Op. 8 and the world Premiere recording of Sibelius' Six Humoresques for Violin confirm by themselves this statement. Even you might establish a parallelism with Michael Ponti in the piano. This bold posture demands by itself at least the sample of artistic honesty, independently of your musical preferences.
Anton Arensky is -let's agree- a minor composer but how we loved his Piano Trio; he dedicated this Violin Concerto (in just one movement) dedicated this piece to the famous Hungarian born pedadogue and consummate violinist Leoplod Auer, the eminent virtuosi , teacher of Efrem Zimabalist the renown teacher of Rosand , so we have two generations closely bound Aside its particular and undeniable charm, it seems more a rhapsodic theme than a Concert, its lacks of profundity. But the most important issue to remark is the admirable grace and tune employed by Rosand to display the visible candor of this work. If I may establish a comparison, this work is very related in spirit to the famous Bruch's violin Concerto in G. The admirable and expressive cadence. It meant for him the Grand Prize and Gold Medal of the Universal Exposition in Paris in 1900.
In what the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, Rosand `s approach is very interesting, he doesn't boast of pyrotechnic skillfulness, he makes if you want a modest reading, loaded of Russian mood and nostalgic rapture, and intimate. I don't pretend any comparison with giant performances; the orchestra in fact don't make him any justice, but prevails the sensation of chamber work instead the bombastic approach given by the most of the players all over the world.
Mendelssohn `s performance is filled of vitality and supreme musicality., warmth and gentle mood, so typical of this very forgotten and huge artist; but measure by measure is the weakest performance of this set.

I love Mr. Rosand's playing, but I find these interpretations to be a bit harsh on the ear. His intonation is nearly flawless, and his expression is great, but it seems to lack the speed and zest of Heifetz playing. In the last movement of the Mendelsohn concerto, the horns play stacatto, which sounds really weird. That to me seems like the anouncement of the king's arrival. This sounds like some tired musicians that want to go to bed.

I grew up listening to a record of this and was heartbroken when I lost it. I was delighted to find the CD. It has my two favorite pieces played the way I remember them.