Corigliano and Adams
together on one CD has to be a fairly
safe commercial bet for any classical
record label, especially with the combined
big names of Leonard Slatkin and the
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in support.
These giants are topped by one of the
most upwardly mobile young soloists
around at the moment. Chloë Hanslip’s
pure tone and naturally expressive playing
suit this music right down to the roots.
Corigliano’s Red
Violin is immediately associated
with Joshua Bell, who recorded the original
soundtrack. ‘The Suite From’ has appeared
once or twice, but I don’t remember
coming across this stand-alone Chaconne
before – an extended work which
uses the principal theme to create a
set of variations over a ‘ground bass’
which is ever present, but not in the
instantly audible Purcell sense. This
is typically accessible Corigliano,
with lyrical solo lines and colourful,
resonant orchestration. The overall
effect is certainly much more powerful
than simply ‘film music’ fare. As we
are led to understand that another two
movements have been composed I suspect
it won’t be long before we have the
full ‘Concerto’ from …
Enesco’s romping Romanian
Rhapsody No.1, or at least
the bits of it which have been selected
for arrangement by Franz Waxman, make
for what would have been an excellent
encore. There are one or two unmistakably
folk-like moments in the solo part,
but otherwise this is the kind of piece
which would go down well at the average
New Year’s gala concert, and none the
worse for it. Franz Waxman is further
represented in the incredible Tristan
and Isolde Fantasia, which only
just misses becoming Wagner’s "Rhapsody
in Blue" – especially through the
significant piano part taken brilliantly
by Charles Owen. This piece was used
in the 1946 Hollywood film Humoresque,
which tells the story of an ambitious
violinist who falls in love with his
patroness, with inevitably tragic consequences.
Elements from the Prelude and
Liebestod are tossed around in
a hot wok of Hollywood romanticism.
While purists may cringe I couldn’t
help turning up the volume to 11 on
this one!
After the turbulence
and emotion of Wagner/Waxman, Adams
does well to pick us up from the floor
onto which we have all melted. The opening
of his Violin Concerto has been
compared to the drowning scene in Berg’s
‘Wozzeck’, but with the fluid undulations
in the orchestra being extended over
the whole of the first movement it is
more of an aquatic flying lesson than
an agonising sinking feeling. The second
movement is a moving Chaconne,
with discreetly added bell sounds -
some real, some synthesised - from within
the orchestra. Polytonal counter-melodies
and woodwind filigrees make this an
attractive movement, even though its
nearly 11 minute duration means it has
more of a meditative effect rather than
an intensely gripping one. The final
Toccare has minimalist touches
of ostinati: ticking woodblocks and
both tuned and un-tuned percussion effects
in a rhythmically demanding whirlwind
of joyful Americana. It does come off
in this performance, but you do have
the feeling that everyone is playing
by the seat of their trousers, sorry,
pants.
This is another superbly
engineered and marvellously well performed
production from Naxos. With the John
Adams Violin Concerto as the
central item it comes into direct competition
with Robert MacDuffie on Telarc, coupled
with the Violin Concerto by Philip Glass,
and Gidon Kremer on Nonesuch, with Adams’
"Shaker Loops" as a substantial
filler. While this is a tough call,
the Naxos CD does undercut both of the
aforementioned competitors by a considerable
price margin. Gidon Kremer might take
the ultimate laurels for best performance
in Adams’ Concerto, but there
is nothing in Hanslip’s version which
will make you wonder what you are missing.
Dominy Clements
And a further perspective from Rob Barnett:-
Chloë Hanslip
is a deservedly celebrated young player.
Naxos have done well to engage her for
this project and mark it with a prestige
card-sleeve as well as all the aural
trappings of a deluxe production.
The recordings were
made in unaccustomed realms for Naxos:
Abbey Road no less. Look too at the
conductor and orchestra.
Corigliano's Chaconne
from The Red Violin takes
themes from the 1998 film of that name
and spins variations that are intense,
impassioned, ardent, explosive and meditative.
The language scarcely drifts from a
range marked out by Walton and Shostakovich.
It is not a difficult listen and rises
to an impressive tempest of protest.
The Rumanian
Rhapsody No. 1 is in this case
a sparking piece for full orchestra
and solo violin. Here it’s all done
within 2:26 so it’s not the whole of
Enescu's original. Hanslip delivers
spirited zigeuner virtuosity
- all lightning and flashing eyes!
Then come two works
by Franz Waxman as arranger -
and more in the case of the Tristan
and Isolde Fantasia. This latter
piece stands at the climactic point
in the 1946 film Humoresque.
The Tristan item is also with orchestra
and there’s an orchestral piano too,
here played by Charles Owen. The style
was not quite the torrid superheated
affair I had expected. This is more
of a romantic pastiche of Mendelssohn
or Bruch; very convincingly done as
well.
We may well look back
at the violin concertos by Glass, Adams
and Rorem in years to come as triptychal
sisters. All have been convincingly
recorded and all several times. Hanslip
gives us a convincing performance of
Adams’ fantasy-concerto. Its opening
bars seem to sidle into the listener’s
consciousness. The glistening mystery
of the central Chaconne is outstandingly
done. The Toccare finale darts
and chatters in a return to Adams' brilliant
minimalist roots. The ticking variegated
percussion (tom-tom and much else) adds
counterpoint to the flighty and fast-pattering
violin line.
This is a lovely disc
which adds valuably to the Naxos American
Classics marque. More from Chloe Hanslip
please. Let's hear her for example in
the two Creston concertos and if you
can bear with me for this motley crew
of wonderful neglecteds: in the violin
concertos of Lionel Sainsbury, Edward
Burlingame Hill and Haydn Wood.
Rob Barnett
Chloë Hanslip (violin) 
for
details
