Born in Denmark to
Polish-Israeli parents, violinist Nikolaj
Znaider has here recorded two of the
most towering masterpieces of the violin
repertoire. Znaider plays the Antonio
Stradivarius ‘ex-Liebig’ 1704. The recordings
were made at live concert performances
although the audience is so quiet I
would not have known.
Znaider views recording
the Beethoven Violin Concerto as "a
dream ... the ultimate challenge",
describing the work as, "the
‘Bible’ in the concert repertoire for
the violin". Znaider plays
Fritz Kreisler’s cadenzas, which he
believes enhance the integration between
movements better than any others. The
choice of the pairing is significant
for Znaider. He sees the Mendelssohn
Concerto as the ideal coupling, "Not
only is it so different from the Beethoven.
In fact, for me the two concertos represent
a study in contrasts."
Mendelssohn Violin
Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64 (1844)
Mendelssohn wrote in
July 1838 to his great friend, the eminent
violinist Ferdinand David, "I’d
like to write a violin concerto for
you next winter; one in E minor sticks
in my head, the beginning of which will
not leave me in peace". Despite
his good intentions, consultation with
various friends and the persuasion of
David to complete it, Mendelssohn did
not get around to serious work on the
score until 1844. He had been busy with
other compositions and conducting projects.
Mendelssohn collaborated closely with
David, inviting his suggestions about
both the technique of the solo part
and the suitability of the music as
a vehicle for the violin. An abiding
concern was that the violin part "could
be executed with the greatest delicacy".
He deferred to David in most of the
technical questions, and it seems that
David himself was responsible for the
work’s single and finely crafted cadenza.
Drowning in pitiful uncertainty Mendelssohn
continued to make various modifications
right up to the time of the première.
Both men had contempt for the frequently
heard ‘empty showpiece style’ typical
of early Romantic era concerto. For
Mendelssohn such works contained little
more than "juggler’s tricks
and rope dancer’s feats."
It seemed inevitable
that Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto should
emerge as a serious musical essay and
is acknowledged as one of the great
masterworks of classical music. It has
achieved tremendous popularity
both in the recording studio and the
concert hall. Musicologist Sir Donald
Tovey wrote, "I rather envy
the enjoyment of anyone who should hear
the Mendelssohn Concerto for the first
time and find that, like Hamlet, it
was full of quotations." Music
writer Louis Biancolli summarized the
character of this composition of Mendelssohn’s
maturity, "In classical poise,
melodic suavity, and refined romantic
feeling, it is an epitome of his style
... Finesse, cultivated taste, and an
unerring sense of the appropriate were
among his chief attributes."
Mendelssohn had a special
gift for melody and it is easy to see
why the memorable and beautiful opening
theme would not leave his thoughts.
The orchestration of the first movement
allegro moderato is primarily
designed to show off the violinist rather
than overpower the listener with intricacy,
in which soloist Nikolaj Znaider displays
gentle and sensitive playing. Especially
successful is Znaider’s fine interpretation
of the challenging cadenza part. The
captivating second movement andante
is characterized by a swaying, lyrical
theme. Znaider seems to acknowledge
the difficulty of the solo part of the
middle section with unhurried and deliberate
playing that at times borders on the
languid. The ebullient finale
pays homage to the virtuoso tradition
of the Violin Concerto, exhibiting buoyant
themes at a swift pace. Znaider’s playing
is at times rather tentative when compared
to the spirited and sparkling interpretations
of his main rivals. There is a sense
of inability freely to express himself,
feeling too constrained by the requirements
of the movement.
Throughout the Violin
Concerto, Mehta and the IPO prove highly
sympathetic partners. However, to compete
with the very finest available versions
I would have preferred an increased
vitality and extra expression from Znaider.
I found Znaider’s timbre rather light
and fragile compared to the weightier,
more silvery-toned rival versions from
Laredo, Chung and Mullova. Furthermore,
it would have been advantageous if the
soloist had been placed slightly further
forward on the recording as the quieter
passages struggled to be heard resulting
in considerable volume adjusting.
With the exception
of the Beethoven Violin Concerto there
can be few other works in the whole
of the concerto repertoire with as many
excellent versions available as the
Mendelssohn. It’s a fiercely competitive
market. My long time favourite recording
is the celebrated account from soloist
Jaime Laredo, who directs the Scottish
Chamber Orchestra on IMP Classics PCD
829, c/w Bruch Violin concerto No. 1
in G minor. I understand that this Laredo
account, with the same coupling, has
been re-released on the Regis label
RRC 1152, at super budget price. I also
favour the version from Kyung Wha Chung
and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra
under Charles Dutoit on Decca 460 976-2
as part of their ‘Legends’ Series 460
976-2, c/w Bruch Violin concerto No.
1 in G minor and Scottish Fantasy.
Another superb recording is the
period-instrument version from Viktoria
Mullova with the Orchestre Révolutionnaire
et Romantique under John Eliot Gardiner
on Philips 473 872-2, c/w Beethoven
Violin Concerto.
Beethoven Violin Concerto
in D major, Op. 61 (1806) [41.34]
In 1806 Beethoven was
persuaded to write his monumental Violin
Concerto in D Major, for Franz Clement,
leader of the Theatre Orchestra at Vienna.
Clement had been a child prodigy and
was reputed to be a remarkable violinist
with a prodigious memory. Beethoven
was still writing the score right up
to the last possible moment before Clement’s
first performance. Consequently, Clement
was ill-prepared not having been able
to rehearse all of the score and having
to sight-read certain sections. Not
surprisingly the première was
unsuccessful, meeting with unenthusiastic
and even hostile reviews. Johann Nepomuk
Möser wrote of the première,
"Its many beauties must be ceded,
but it must also be acknowledged that
the continuity is often completely broken
and that the endless repetitions of
a few commonplace passages could easily
lead to weariness ... It is feared that
if Beethoven continues to follow his
present course, it will go ill with
him." Reputedly only three
performances were given of the work
between 1806 and 1844. It seems the
second performance was given by Alois
Tomasini, the son of Haydn’s Eszterháza
concertmaster, who played it in 1812.
Pierre Baillot performed it in 1828
and Henri Vieuxtemps ten years after
that. Significantly, the eminent violist
Joseph Joachim performed the work in
London, in 1844, when he was only fourteen,
under the direction of Mendelssohn.
Joachim began to perform the work regularly
which greatly assisted it to find a
permanent place in the repertoire.
The Beethoven Violin
Concerto, although following the conventional
design of the classical concerto, consists
mainly of concise musical material.
The work was clearly not the typical
display piece that audiences were used
to hearing and it found only slow acceptance
by virtuosi such as Spohr who at that
time had their own concertos primarily
in mind, with the desire to showcase
their particular virtuosic strengths.
Beethoven’s towering musical concepts,
mirroring the spirit of reform, democracy
and revolution, and his idiomatic treatment
of the violin and pianistic thinking,
had to wait for a later era to be appreciated.
Renowned violin soloist Hilary Hahn
recently commented that, "the
Beethoven is, for me, one of the supreme
compositions written for any instrument,
and its seamless combination of high
lyricism and dramatic depth has appealed
to me since the first time I heard it.
From its opening five-note drumbeat
to its final, joyous cadence, it gives
me the impression of passing through
a lifetime of emotions and experience
to emerge wiser and somehow triumphant
on the other side."
The length of the first
movement of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto
alone exceeds that of nearly every earlier
complete concerto for the violin and
in character the work is even more strikingly
different from that of its predecessors.
The opening measures proclaim it as
being at once expansive and dramatic,
and, while the solo writing is extremely
demanding, there is virtually nothing
in the way of bravura material in the
movement. Znaider brings out the contrasting
moods of sunshine and shadow in the
with a striking steadfastness and considerable
intensity.
The slow movement larghetto,
essentially a romance in modified variation
form, reaches far beyond the sweetness
of the two independent Romances that
Beethoven had composed earlier, to attain
a level of sublimity paralleled among
his works only in his most intimate
chamber music. The impressive Znaider
provides a poetic and tender interpretation
of this reflective movement. The larghetto
leads directly into the concluding movement,
a cheerful and sturdy rondo,
for which the apparent model is the
‘hunting’ music found in the symphonic
and chamber-music finales of
Mozart and Haydn. In Znaider’s confident
hands the solid and earthy character
comes to the fore combined with substantial
charm and folksy good spirits.
The excellent players
of the IPO will have performed this
Violin Concerto hundreds of times and
with this impressively controlled performance
they avoid any sense of the routine.
On the evidence of this recording the
soloist seems far more comfortable with
the Beethoven’s than with the Mendelssohn
where sadly his interpretation disappoints.
My preferred first
choice for the Beethoven is from Nathan
Milstein and the Pittsburgh Symphony
Orchestra under William Steinberg on
EMI Mono ‘Great Recordings Of The Century’
5 67583-2, c/w Brahms Violin Concerto.
I am also extremely fond of the account
from Wolfgang Schneiderhan and the Berlin
Philharmonic Orchestra under Eugen Jochum
on Deutsche Grammophon ADD ‘The Originals’
447 403-2. Using period-instruments
another favourite recording from my
collection is the superb digital account
from Viktoria Mullova with the Orchestre
Révolutionnaire et Romantique
under John Eliot Gardiner on Philips
473 872-2, c/w the Mendelssohn.
Competition in this
repertoire is extremely fierce and there
are many excellent accounts available.
I have mixed feelings about this release.
Soloist Znaider provides an impressive
performance of the Beethoven and one
less so in the Mendelssohn.
Michael Cookson
Nikolaj Znaider, violin 
