Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791)
Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major ‘Turkish’, K219 (1775, cadenzas by Robert Levin) [27:48]
Sinfonia concertante for violin, viola and orchestra in E flat major, K364 (1779) [29:55]
Mikhail Pochekin (violin)
Ivan Pochekin (viola)
Stuttgarter Kammerorchester
rec. December 2020, Musikhalle Ludwigsburg, Germany
HÄNSSLER CLASSIC HC20078 [57:46]
This is my first encounter with the Pochekin brothers, Mikhail and Ivan, who play a pair of masterpieces from Mozart’s canon, the Violin Concerto No. 5 ‘Turkish’ and the Sinfonia Concertante for violin, viola and orchestra, works I greatly value in such outstanding performances.
The Pochekins have strong associations with the professional music world: their father Yuri is a renowned luthier now based in Madrid and both brothers received lessons from their mother Elena who is a violin teacher. Now established individually as soloists on the music scene, Ivan and Mikhail play concerts and recitals, sometimes as a duo, in many countries of the world. I have appended to this review short biographies. Here, Mikhail is playing a violin by Neapolitan luthier Gennaro Gagliano (1762), and Ivan a viola (2008) made by their father. Both instruments are fitted with modern strings and set-ups.
In 1773, Mozart was employed in the service of Hieronymus von Colloredo, the new Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg which proved to be a period fraught with difficulties. However, by December 1775, the nineteen-year-old Mozart had managed to complete all five of his violin concertos. As the relationship between Mozart and his employer became unendurable, in August 1777 Mozart left Colloredo’s employment. Scored for solo violin with pairs of oboes and horns with strings, No. 5, K219 is known as the ‘Turkish Concerto’ owing to a section of unruly Turkish music in the alla turca style in the final movement. Compared to the lofty peaks of Mozart’s piano concertos, the group of five violin concertos feels more like the verdant valley floor beneath, complete with icy, fast flowing rivers. In the hands of soloist Mikhail, the music seems similarly fresh with an agreeable sense of sincerity and integrity that draws in the listener. Mikhail revels in the humour and rhythmic diversity of the writing which is stylish with a dignified bloom. Especially appealing is the joie de vivre that Mikhail imparts to the opening movement Allegro aperto and his lyrical and deeply reflective playing of the Adagio. Mikhail has chosen cadenzas written by Robert D. Levin who has published cadenzas for all of Mozart’s five violin concertos.
Next on the album is the Sinfonia concertante for violin and viola, K364. Although a pianist, Mozart was also proficient on both violin and viola. Mozart composed the work on his return to Salzburg in 1779 following his European tour which involved stays at Mannheim and Paris. It is most likely Mozart had come across the form of the sinfonia concertante when in Paris. In Mozart’s scoring, the violin and viola are accompanied by pairs of oboes and horns with strings. Mikhail and Ivan, perhaps unsurprisingly, exhibit a splendid rapport. especially in the C minor Andante where the duo achieves an expressive intensity in a key signature that might be reflecting love, lament and tragedy. Relishing the richly inventive writing with such colourful sonorities, the brothers ensure that nothing feels overdriven and everything has a pleasing fluidity. Their engaging, unaffected performance is both compelling and gratifying.
For the recording at the Musikhalle Ludwigsburg, the brothers and the players of the Stuttgarter Kammerorchester were observing socially distanced coronavirus precautions. Grammy award winning sound engineer Peter Laenger of Tritonus has achieved first class sonics, clear and well balanced with plenty of space around the soloists. In the liner notes the essay is written by music writer Jens Markowsky. At only fifty-eight minutes, the unused space on this Hänssler Classic disc is ungenerous and might have accommodated, say, Mozart’s trio of short works for violin and orchestra, the Adagio, K261 and the two Rondos K269 and K373.
Both performance and recording quality here are rewarding and this joins the top division. Nevertheless, with a number of other first-rate recordings available, this is a competitive field that I have cut right down to three choices.
Of the more recent recordings of both works my leading selection is from violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann who excels with bright and buoyant playing of the ‘Turkish’ and is successfully partnered by violist Antione Tamestit in the Sinfonia Concertante. Zimmermann is effectively supported by the Kammerorchester des Symphonieorchesters des Bayerischen Rundfunks directed by Radoslaw Szulc. Recorded in the renowned acoustic of the Herkulessaal, Munich, Zimmermann benefits from cool, clear sound on Hänssler Classic (review).
For my period-instrument choice of both K219 and K364, I have only praise for the outstanding performances from baroque violinist Giuliano Carmignola partnered by violist Danusha Waskiewicz. Carmignola is accompanied by the Orchestra Mozart using period instruments under Claudio Abbado. Recorded in 2007 with vivid clarity in the Salone Bolognini, Bologna, the album is released on Archiv Produktion (review).
For the longer established recordings of the Sinfonia Concertante, K364 alone, my strong preference is for the stylish, assertively assured and characterful live account from the pairing of violinist Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman on viola. These celebrated performers might be playing a Paganini showpiece, such is their sheer virtuosity and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under Zubin Mehta play splendidly too. The recording engineers have done well, achieving well-focused sound, now almost forty years old. This classic performance was recorded live at the 1982 Huberman Festival at the Frederic R. Mann Auditorium, Tel Aviv for Deutsche Grammophon and coupled with the Mozart Concertone, K190.
Michael Cookson
