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Wolfgang Amadeus
MOZART (1756-1791)
Sinfonia concertantein E flat major for Violin and Viola, K364 (1779)
[31:58]
Violin Concerto No. 4 in D major, K218 (1775) [24:15]
Violin Concerto No. 2 in D major, K211 (1775) [21:55]
Maxim Vengerov
(violin)
Lawrence Power
(viola) (K364)
UBS Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra/Maxim Vengerov
rec. 9-11 February 2006, Henry Wood Hall, London, (K211);
16-18 August 2006, Salle Métropole, Lausanne, (K218, K364).
DDD EMI CLASSICS
378374-2 [78:52]
Things
open badly. Vengerov’s retarding of the opening orchestral
statements in the self-directed Sinfonia Concertante is one
of the more baffling things that I’ve heard of late. It makes
no musical sense and makes mincemeat of the anticipatory
propulsion that the chords are supposed to impart. Quite
why he did it I can’t imagine but I suspect he will come
to repent. I’m not overly keen on his Gergiev-like bass exaggerations
either; this is all mannered and perplexing. Once over this
hurdle things improve though I have to say that there are
too many examples of metrical fussiness for me ever to actually
enjoy the performance. I do enjoy Lawrence Power’s playing
and he seems to me to phrase better than Vengerov and to
do so with more expressive strength. But even Power can’t
avail when those examples of vocalised diminuendi – exaggerated
dynamics – that Vengerov has imported from Mozart’s operatic
and vocal works are so pervasive and intrusive. Similarly
though it sounds pretty, the slow movement never sounds moving – it
doesn’t flow - and the operatic basis of Vengerov’s conception,
about which he talks in the booklet notes, is as unconvincing
here as elsewhere. The finale works best but there’s less
room for indulgence here. I really think a conductor with
firm views was necessary and it’s a pity Vengerov’s drastic
impositions were allowed to pass unchecked.
That
said the concertos are much better. It’s not fanciful to
hear the kind of vocalised writing Vengerov is intent on
invoking in, say, the opening movement of K218. Here the
decorative passages are played with conviction, accents are
brisk and the orchestral stage is vigorously present. Vengerov’s
phrasing is rather feminine, as if he is evoking a soprano.
And his own cadenza here is splendid. He blends timbres and
doesn’t exploit registral differences in the slow movement.
In the companion K211 he is adroit in pointing some rococo
features and in unleashing more first class cadenzas. Among
his peers I can think of no one more adept at this kind of
work - these are surely some of the most impressive self-penned
cadenzas by a contemporary violinist and they point to a
real imaginative gift. I also admired the pliant diminuendi
in the slow movement of the same concerto. Here they sound
unhurried and natural where in the Sinfonia Concertante they
sounded phoney.
The
recorded sound in both locations is excellent. But this is
a curious specimen of Vengerov’s immersion in the classical
repertoire. The concertos are excellent, the Concertante
disappointing.
Jonathan
Woolf
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