Antonio VIVALDI (1678-1741)
Violin Concertos Op.8 Il Cimento dell’Armonia e dell’ invenzione (1725)
Violin Concerto No.1 in E major La Primavera RV269 [12.18]
Violin Concerto No.2 in G minor L’Estate RV315 [11.38]
Violin Concerto No.3 in F major l’Autunno RV293 [10.24]
Violin Concerto No.4 in F minor L’Inverno RV297 [11.23]
Gloria RV589 [32:01]
Mimi Coertse (soprano), Ina Dressel (soprano), Sonja Draxler (contralto)
Julian Olevsky (violin)
Vienna State Opera Orchestra/Hermann Scherchen
rec. June.1958 (Four Seasons) and November 1960 (Gloria)
TAHRA TAH 697 [77:30]
Record companies are slowly getting to grips with the history of the Four
Seasons on disc. Molinari’s pioneering account, re-clothed for string
orchestra sans soloist, has appeared on an Italian label, and the first
ever recording of the "real deal" by the sumptuous Louis Kaufman
has recently been issued by Naxos. An off-air Campoli performance with Boyd
Neel has come out on Pearl. To these the inquisitive fiddle-fancier can now
add Doremi’s restoration of Berlin-born Julian Olevsky’s recording of the
entire cycle of twelve concertos that make up Op.8 [Doremi DHR 7837/38].
Set down circa 1954 with no less than Hermann Scherchen on the podium
this is a rare opportunity to hear a most impressive talent, one whose career
never really breached the upper echelons of the performing circuit and whose
recordings have never achieved wide recognition. Yet thanks to Doremi we can
now experience the complete cycle of Mozart sonatas for piano and violin and
the Bach Sonatas and Partitas. In the release under question Tahra has chosen
The Four Seasons from the Op.8 set, coupling it with the Gloria.
Olevsky was of Russian origin but was born in Berlin in 1926 moving to Argentina
in 1935. There he studied with a violinist of distinction, if somewhat retrogressive
technical equipment by then, Alexander Petschnikoff. Moving to America after
a debut with Fritz Busch he made a number of discs for Westminster, had a
good if unspectacular career and proved a good teacher. He died aged only
fifty-nine in 1985.
He was about twenty-eight when he went to Vienna to record the Vivaldi, accompanied
by the Vienna State Opera Orchestra and Scherchen.
It’s an uneven set. Olevsky was a fine player, elegant, warm if not opulently
toned, and one who seldom had recourse to portamenti though he certainly did
to expressive diminuendi. His contribution is fine if not especially personalised;
I don’t think you’d note any distinguishing characteristics. Which is not
to say that his playing is cool or uninteresting; on the contrary. The dominant
force however is Scherchen. He makes sure the harpsichord is prominent throughout
and certainly brings out some "interesting" harmonies in the slow
movement of Spring – see-sawing strings, desolate middle voicings.
His finale is also relatively slow and the tuttis don’t really register, which
may be a fault of the recording. The conductor insists on quite a bit of rubato
in the opening of Summer and devitalised speeds for the slow movements
of this and Autumn, albeit Scherchen explores the melodic and harmonic
implications of Autumn’s slow movement with real sagacity. There’s
good bass pointing in the same concerto’s finale with fine instrumental exchanges
but the opening of Winter now sounds merely dogged. Its slow movement
must be one of the most heroically badly recorded in history. What possessed
the engineers, or Scherchen, or Olevsky to allow the orchestral string pizzicatos
almost entirely to obliterate Olevsky’s solo line? So a very uneven listening
experience. Olevsky is a pleasing soloist, well mannered, technically eloquent,
tonally accomplished, just without being able to assert much personality on
the proceedings.
The Gloria shows Scherchen’s strengths in vocal music. Though by this
time the weight of the choral contribution was coming to be seen to be a little
ripe, nevertheless the sense of commitment is palpable. Scherchen encourages
brisk punctuating brass in the opening movement, and an expressive slow tempo
for Et in terra pax hominibus, the strings bringing a relatively lightly
burnished colour to the music’s texture. Laudamus te is taken at a
stately tempo, whilst there’s lovely phrasing in the Domine Deus. The
vitality of the jog-trotting Domine Fili is also fine, the organ contribution
especially in the Qui tollis also notable. The three soloists make
a notably fine contribution.
This is a good example of Scherchen’s sensitive exploration of the repertory
and is heard in a fine transfer. Tahra’s work is decidedly better than Doremi’s
in The Four Seasons, being possessed of greater definition and clarity.
Jonathan Woolf
A good example of Scherchen’s sensitive exploration of the repertory and is
heard in a fine transfer.