For me this combination
of works represents a dream-team in
repertoire terms ... well, almost. Prokofiev
1 and the Sibelius are among my favourite
20th century violin concertos along
with the Miaskovsky, Walton and Janis
Ivanovs. As for the glorious Humoresques
they encapsulate an icy yet glisteningly
yielding passion that no other work
approaches. I say almost a dream-team
because, unaccountably, the first two
Humoresques have been omitted - there
was plenty of space of them!
I know I am supposed
to like the second Prokofiev Violin
Concerto but it scarcely makes an impression
on me. Perhaps I have yet to hear the
right performance. The First Concerto
is another matter altogether.
New recordings of Prokofiev
1 face stern comparisons. The ancient
but unmatched Szigeti recording with
Beecham conducting is an intensely magical
fantasy ride (Naxos Historical
8.110973) and is certainly hors concours.
The best modern recording/interpretation
I have heard is of Dmitri Sitkovetsky
on Virgin Classics although Oistrakh's
version is also outstanding. Gringolts
is even better recorded here. The spangled
details of Prokofiev's fantastic orchestration
radiate out delightfully towards the
listener. Perhaps Gringolts is a mite
over-emphatic in making phrases tell.
However he has wonderful tone and technique
and a musician's mind to match. The
melody that reaches out at the start
and close of the work is another one
of those heartbreaking master-strokes
of creativity. Also have you noticed
how startlingly indebted the Walton
concerto is to the Prokofiev? Listen
to the start of the third movement (tr.3
00.21 onwards).
The transparency of
this recording is amazing - listen for
example to the burred timbre of the
bassoon and shimmer of the strings.
Engineering team, Lennart Dehn and Michael
Bergek, should take a well-merited bow.
Gringolts’ Humoresques
are up against competition from
Bis, Apex, Omega, Philips - amongst
a few others. They are sweetly despatched
by him but are, by no stretch of the
imagination, superficial salon material.
They are a confection of warm Bruch,
Northern Lights, arctic seas and breathy
romance. Gringolts and Järvi take
the Commodo with its whispering
and whistlingly stellar harmonics (tr.
6 1.30 - compare 5.30 in the finale
of the concertto tr. 10) rather too
sedately for my liking but this is still
fine playing. It shows sympathetic executant
imaginations at work. Much the same
can be said of the lovingly attentive
reading of the Concerto. The spacious
sound-image smilingly accommodates the
étincellante qualities
and songful-longing of Gringolts' reading
which once again leans on the poetic
and spacious. Good of its broad type
it stands in another camp from the 1960s
Oistrakh with Rozhdestvensky (BMG-Melodiya)
which although no CD can ultimately
claim to be definitive is certainly
my reference version. Other fine versions
include the idiosyncratic Tossy Spivakovsky/Hannikainen
(Omega), Haendel/Berglund (EMI Classics)
and a promising outsider in the shape
of Julian Rachlin/Maazel (Sony). Once
again the transparency and impact of
the DG sound knocks spots off the BMG
disc. However Oistrakh and Rozhdestvensky's
spirit and propulsive flighting of the
work is very appealing and perennially
fresh.
Good imaginative versions
of these works in resplendent sound.
Rob Barnett
Ilya Gringolts (violin) 