Romantic Violin Concertos
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 (1844)
Max Bruch (1838-1920)
Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 44 (1877)
Mikhail Pochekin (violin)
Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen/Sebastian Tewinkel
rec. 2021, Studio der WPR, Reutlingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
HÄNSSLER CLASSIC HC21058 [52]
For his new album, violin soloist Mikhail Pochekin has selected a pair of Romantic violin concertos that have achieved very different levels of success. He has astutely coupled Mendelssohn’s enduringly popular Violin Concerto in E minor, a repertoire staple, with Bruch’s far less-known Violin Concerto No. 2. He points out that both works were composed for specific violin virtuosi who gave the premieres: Ferdinand David for the Mendelssohn and Pablo de Sarasate for the Bruch. Completed thirty-three years apart, each concerto is, I believe, a masterwork with its own individual narrative and characteristics.
Mendelssohn was only thirteen when he wrote a Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra in D minor in 1822. Only very occasionally performed in concert this is a fledgling work of modest value except to chart the composer’s progress. Some twenty-two years later Mendelssohn worked closely with Ferdinand David during the composition of the Violin Concerto in E minor. It received its premiere the following year in Leipzig with David as soloist and conducted by the Danish composer Niels Gade who had stepped in for the indisposed Mendelssohn. Right up to the time of the première, Mendelssohn continued to make various modifications.
There are a number of outstanding recordings of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto and the choice is extremely competitive. Convincingly unpretentious, this performance from Pochekin deserves comparison with the finest accounts; it is both compelling and fulfilling. His playing in the central movement Andante is of melancholy beauty, while to the quicker outer movements he brings an assured, controlled passion and great vitality.
However, whittling my favourite recordings of Mendelssohn concerto down to a single recording my first choice remains Kyung Wha Chung with her evergreen 1981 account for its characterful playing and captivating atmosphere. Closely recorded at St. Eustache, Montréal, Chung is accompanied by the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal under Charles Dutoit on Decca. Chung’s Decca recording has been reissued a number of times. I first bought it as a new release on vinyl LP, coupled with her recording of the Tchaikovsky concerto. Now I play the reissued Chung account coupled with her 1972 recordings of Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and ‘Scottish Fantasy’ on a remastered Decca Legendary Performance series CD.
One of the most enduringly popular violin concertos ever written, Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 eclipses his remaining fifteen concertante works. For several years it was voted the audience top choice on the Classic FM ‘Hall of Fame’ as well as heading other, comparable lists. Clearly favouring the violin as a solo instrument, over a thirty-five-year period Bruch wrote nine works for violin and orchestra. For this album Pochekin looks further than the obvious choice of Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and has chosen to record No. 2, a work that lives in the shadow of its esteemed older sibling. Although infrequently programmed, it is a first-class work that deserves to be far better known. The same could certainly be said of Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 3 (1891) and a particular favourite of mine, ‘In Memoriam’ for violin and orchestra (1893). The Violin Concerto No. 2 uses dramatic writing inspired, it seems, by Sarasate’s suggestion of a post-battlefield scene in the Spanish Carlist Wars. Sarasate gave the première with Bruch conducting in the Crystal Palace, London, In 1877. Pochekin’s playing of Bruch’s deeply Romantic score is simply first-class. Especially gratifying in the opening movement Adagio ma non troppo is the level of aching sensibility Pochekin produces; it is deeply felt but never becomes mawkish. His violin has little difficulty penetrating Bruch’s orchestral scoring, which has a more substantial wind section compared with his earlier concerto.
The account I usually reach for is the all-Bruch album played by soloist Ulf Wallin with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin under Okko Kamu. Recorded in 2014 in the Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Berlin, Wallin plays with forceful warmth and a natural eloquence. Wallin also includes splendid performances of ‘In Memoriam’ and ‘Konzertstück’ on BIS SACD.
Pochekin is in engaging form in this pairing and his violin by Neapolitan luthier Gennaro Gagliano (1762) emits a beautiful tone. Conductor Sebastian Tewinkel, whom I know only by name, ensures effective tempi and dynamics, with the WPR responding convincingly. Recorded by engineer Christian Starke at the Studio der WPR, Reutlingen the sound quality has a satisfying clarity and balance. There is no essay in the booklet notes, provided; instead, there is the text of an interview music writer Dr. Burkhard Schäfer held with soloist Pochekin. My only grumble concerns the ungenerous playing time of a mere fifty-two minutes.
If the coupling of Mendelsohn’s Violin Concerto with Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 2 appeals, I see no reason to hesitate acquiring this impressive new album.
Michael Cookson
