It’s nothing new for a violinist to strike a pose of model-status
good looks. That’s what Warner’s publicists have deemed appropriate
for the British violinist of Norwegian descent, Charlie Siem,
and thus he stands, in impossibly white shirt and high waisted
tight back trousers, fiddle in hand like the drape of a matador’s
cape. But Jan Kubelík, Czech fiddler of old, was similarly fęted
for his looks and you don’t go far without turning up postcards
of that lustrous haired hero. So it’s fine by me.
Fortunately Siem is a fine musician. He’s chosen two concertos
and a curiosity. One of the concertos is the Bruch in G minor,
of which we are presumably sated, and the second is the Wieniawski
in F sharp minor, which is a much rarer affair - indeed considerably
rarer than the same composer’s warhorse, the Second Concerto.
The oddity is Ole Bull’s Cantabile doloroso e Rondo giocoso.
Siem is joined by the LSO and Andrew Gourlay.
Siem’s Bruch is clean-limbed and his thoughtful performance
includes some clever expressive devices that show a good sense
of personalisation. He phrases warmly in the slow movement where
the wind and horn lines are well shaped, and where the crest
and fall of the violin line is finely detailed; dynamic variance
is an ally to Siem here. The finale strikes a rather grand kind
of pose, though the answering phrases and passages – especially
the answering wind lines, often fudged or glossed – register
well. Sometimes Siem’s passagework can be a touch routine. I
can’t help feeling the performance is just a touch studio-bound,
for all the felicities.
Wieniawski’s youthful First Concerto has never really staked
much of a claim on the concert stage. It has made some headway
on disc, though certainly not spectacular headway. Gil Shaham
has recorded it for DG, but before him Perlman, with Ozawa,
on EMI and – less well known but excellent – Vadim Brodsky and
Antoni Wit on Arts Music have left important recordings. Before
them however this was Michael Rabin’s concerto. There’s his
studio disc with von Matacic and there’s a live one with Alfred
Wallenstein in Los Angeles on Tahra – considerably hacked about
editorially, and in poor sound, but brilliantly played. Siem
is not an especially fiery player, and his take is precise and
accurate, warm in the slow movement – where it does sound as
if Bruch had listened and learned from the older man – and crisp
in the finale. It’s an avuncular, slightly measured performance
all round.
If you like Bull’s violin works you’ll have Arve Tellefsen’s
disc on Simax [PSC1261]. He too plays the Cantabile doloroso
e Rondo giocoso and, with spectacular SACD sound, this really
packs a punch. Tellefsen is something of an interventionist,
using every ounce of his skill to vest the lines with tense
operatic sculpting. By comparison Siem, though wholly musical,
sounds a touch distant and prosaic.
It would be a shame to end on a dour note. Siem is a highly
proficient technician, and he forms clearly solid ensembles
with his collaborators, who have been well recorded. Sometimes,
however, passages fail to take flight and one senses he may
be constrained by studio conditions. Why not a live recording
next time?
Jonathan Woolf
Charlie Siem (violin) 
