MENDELSSOHN; SCHUMANN Violin Concertos
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann
Genre:
Orchestral
Label: ECM New Series
Magazine Review Date: AW16
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 59
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 481 2635
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra |
Felix Mendelssohn, Composer
Carolin Widmann, Violin Chamber Orchestra of Europe Felix Mendelssohn, Composer |
Author: David Threasher
Widmann’s approach echoes that of her Editor’s Choice recording of Schumann’s three violin sonatas (A/08). This performance is clearly the result of much thought and consideration, with selective use of vibrato and that ‘growl’ as Widmann digs into the G string (and not only in the more boisterous music) – as if she were dragging the music from the very wood of the instrument. The COE are with her all the way, responding to her instinctive rubato with a pleasing naturalness. The Schumann’s slow movement is a thing of wonder and she dances through the polonaise finale with none of the sense – all too often felt – that it’s an uphill trudge.
The Mendelssohn, too, comes off well, with the uneasy undertow of the opening movement duly acknowledged and a sweetening of tone for the Andante (and a true pianissimo) before the tension is dispelled in the tripping finale. Perhaps passagework is occasionally scrabbly in the opening movement, as well as in the upwards scalic lead-ins in the same movement of the Schumann, but that’s hardly the death of Nelson. Good to hear both works played with such intelligence and with the COE on excellent form.
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