William WALTON (1902 - 1983)
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (1938) [30:36]
Two Pieces for Strings from Henry V (1944) [4:36]
Samuel BARBER (1910 - 1981)
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra Op.14 (1939-40) [21:56]
Adagio for Strings Op.11 (1938) [8:52]
Thomas Bowes (violin)
Malmö Opera Orchestra/Joseph Swensen
rec. Malmö Opera and Music Theatre, Sweden, 8-12 March 2010
SIGNUM SIGCD238 [66:02]
This is another of those discs that I find hard to review. In its own right
this captures fine idiomatic and technically secure performances in good if
not great sound. Violinist Thomas Bowes is not a name known widely on the
international circuit but on the evidence of this disc his playing is the
match of many more celebrated players - indeed in the Walton he is much more
secure than one of my favourite players Aaron Rosand. But the rub is, does
this disc merit purchasing before any of the other versions of either or both
concertos? By that highest of all criteria I would have to say no. But for
the moment I would rather dwell on the positives. Conductor Joseph Swensen
is a fine violinist in his own right and from the liner-note it is clear that
he and Bowes are friends as well as musical colleagues. This ensures that
there is a real mutual rapport and understanding between fiddle and stick
that means the many ensemble/sectional minefields in the Walton in particular
are negotiated with ease. Likewise the Malmö Opera Orchestra - although
perhaps a little light in numbers in the strings - are agile and alert accompanists.
Add fine production and engineering from Tony Harrison and Mike Hatch and
the omens are good.
The Walton Violin Concerto is one of this great composer’s finest
works. His detractors will tell you that apart from a burst of extraordinary
creative energy in the decade or so from the debut of Façade
in 1922 his career was a long slow decline into a late romantic nostalgia.
They might even go further and cite this concerto as the first work to exhibit
this ‘malaise’. I would argue quite differently - and avoiding
the epithet ‘bitter-sweet’ which dogs descriptions of Walton’s
music - that in his mature works he found a balance between the nervous energy
of the earlier works and the vein of lyricism that is central to all of Walton’s
best work. If one did want to characterize it it should be as the first of
his ‘Mediterranean’ works written mainly as it was at Ravello
near Amalfi. Add waspish humour and a capricious sexiness and it can be seen
that there is a complex and elusive personality to this music that is hard
for both performers and listeners to comprehend. Given that it was commissioned
by Jascha Heifetz adds a layer of technical complexity too that daunts all
but the finest and bravest players. My main observation with Bowes’
performance is that he is very strong on the technical aspect and indeed quite
forceful throughout but along the way loses the nonchalant slyness the music
really needs. The very opening is the key to the success of any performance;
the violin part is marked sognando which I would interpret as dreaming
rather than dreamily. Following the score I had forgotten just the level of
detail that Walton has applied to the solo line with changes to dynamics and
phrasing in almost every bar. To be honest Bowes rather generalizes these
which as I say underplays the skittish quality. Coming back to this concerto
I was reminded of just what a fine work it is so I particularly enjoyed digging
out other older versions. As mentioned before Aaron Rosand rather disappointed
sounding simply too effortful although James Judd and his Florida orchestra
have full measure of Walton’s orchestral writing. Nigel Kennedy on EMI
with Previn and the RPO are very good - the bigger orchestra giving the work
an opulence that is not an option here and Kennedy reminding one what a fine
player he is technically and musically. I’m not sure any conductor
quite finds the balance between the syncopating rhythms and the lyrical in
Walton as well as Previn. Kyung Wha Chung is also accompanied by Previn this
time with the LSO on Decca but doesn’t quite win me over in the charm
stakes. Ida Haendel with Berglund and his Bournemouth orchestra are simply
magnificent right down to a glorious EMI (again) analogue recording. Lydia
Mordkovich with Jan Latham-Koenig as part of the Chandos Walton edition is
good and interestingly coupled but lacking the multi-faceted nature of the
music. I like rather more the bargain Naxos version from Dong-Suk Kang coupled
with the Cello Concerto. This is a very sensible coupling and as with
much of that series of discs from Naxos benefits from Paul Daniels’
conducting which shows a real feel for the Waltonian idiom. Menuhin with Walton
again on EMI has historical value but cannot compete on a purely technical
level. But that leaves me with one other recording which sadly deals the knock-out
blow for me and the feisty Bowes. It is the 2006 version from James Ehnes
and Bramwell Tovey on Onyx. Good though Bowes is Ehnes is exceptional, his
ability to sail through passages of ferocious difficulty is little short of
staggering. None of the above players - Haendel is pretty remarkable though
- on a technical level alone play this piece as accurately as Ehnes. But then
he transcends mere accuracy and brings to the music a flippancy and easy wit
that is just so very right. And the killer blow for Bowes is that Ehnes couples
this with the same Barber concerto and throws in a wonderful Korngold
Concerto for good measure. Lastly the Onyx engineering gives all the
players a more natural perspective and Tovey’s Vancouver orchestra is
every bit the match of the Swedish team here.
In many ways the Barber is a simpler more linear and less quixotic work -
although written a couple of years after the Walton it is more overtly backward
looking emotionally. Again it has received many fine performances but Bowes
need fear few of them. Overall - for all of the impressive technical address
of the Walton - I prefer Bowes in the Barber. Curiously the orchestra are
slightly less compelling here. This is due again to the number of players
so the weight of string tone is generated more by close miking than force
of numbers. If forced to choose I would turn to Gil Shaham’s glorious
account on DG which also coupled the Korngold. Interestingly I saw Shaham
play the Walton in London last year and he is an ideal exponent of that work
which I do not think he has recorded.
The bringing together of these two like-minded concertos makes for a very
satisfying disc and no-one buying this disc alone would be anything but pleased
with their purchase. The couplings slightly annoy me because they smack too
readily of ‘session fillers’- easy for the orchestra to slap down
in the last few minutes of available time. To be fair the performances of
these string works are perfectly good but not the reason anyone will be buying
the disc. And compared to Ehnes’ Korngold there is no competition on
interest grounds even before one makes qualitative judgments. Liner notes
in English only are provided by Bowes and Adam Chambers. Passing mention is
made of use of David Lloyd-Jones’ ‘new edition’ of the Walton
concerto without mentioning what this actually means for the listener which
I find a little frustrating. I feel rather guilty guiding potential buyers
away from a disc of so many virtues but it is the musical equivalent of coming
second to Usain Bolt in the 100 metres final - no disgrace but not the winner
either.
Nick Barnard
No disgrace but not the winner either.