Joseph HAYDN (1732-1809)
Violin Concerto No.4 in G major Hob: VIIa:4 (c.1761-65) [18:32]
Violin Concerto No.1 in C major Hob VIIa:1 (c.1761-65) [19:09]
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791)
Sinfonia Concertante KV 364 (1779) [29:24]
Rachel Podger (violin); Pavlo Beznosiuk (viola)
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
rec. March (Haydn) and July (Mozart) 2009, All Saints’ Vicarage, East Finchley,
London
CHANNEL CLASSICS CCS SA 29309 [67:43]
Let’s start with K364. Since the documentation makes something of a thing
about it, I will pass on the fact that Rachel Podger plays a 1699 Strad and
that Pavlo Beznosiuk plays a c.1720 instrument by the same maker. They are
strung in gut and played with Classical-style bows. Would you be less impressed
if one of them had played, say, a Goffriller?
Let me say first of all that the engineering on this disc is really splendid.
From top to bottom this is a quality act. Having just sat through an indifferent
recording of the same work from a conventional, modern, non-HIP set up, in
which the basses congealed and curdled like porridge in a vat, it was a real
pleasure to hear the spruce clarity but warmth of this recording.
Back to the performances: Podger and Beznosiuk are fine players and estimable
colleagues. I found their playing eloquent, technically accomplished, their
sonorities blended finely, the unison passages were acutely judged, their
interplay with the orchestra was similarly excellent and I was almost totally
unmoved by it all. Maybe this says more about me than about them, but that’s
the way it is. The Mannheim crescendos registered marvellously, the orchestra
is light years past the days of horrendously scratchy original instrument
fiddles, and the band’s top to bottom sonority is attractive. It’s hard to
see where my objections could lie so let me just register a few thoughts.
The ornamentation in the first movement does sound a touch forced, even unnecessary.
The fluent, fluid slow movement with its tactile dovetailing also doesn’t,
deliberately I think, dig too deeply in an expressive way. And the finale,
whilst buoyant, could be just a touch more buoyant.
The Haydn Concertos occupy a different kind of stylistic sound-world, and
so the potential for more interior expression is inevitably more limited.
Podger is back to her accustomed Pesarinius fiddle, should this matter to
you. The C major has an easy charm and lyricism, and though it’s a display
piece with discreet and lightly etched orchestration it responds very well
to this kind of elegantly refined playing. The aria-like lines of the slow
movement over orchestral pizzicato are finely judged, though the recording
is so good one hears all of Podger’s sniffs, especially in diminuendos. The
bristly engagement etched into the finale allows for some fine ‘kicks’ and
here that unblurred bass line pays more dividends. The companion concerto
is again a study in elegance, and there’s a due sense of pathos in the slow
movement where the supportive strings offer rugged lines. The crisp and avuncular
finale shows off Podger’s excellent bow arm.
So this is something of a difficult recording to summarise. The performances
are poised and convincing in many ways. You may find the Mozart more expressive
than I did. You’ll certainly relish the recorded sound.
Jonathan Woolf