Concerto Grosso in A minor for Two Violins, Op. 3 No. 8 (1711) [13:59]
Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750)
Concerto for Two Violins BWV1043 (1717-23) [17:07]
Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor BWV1014 (1717-23) [15:24]
Violin Concerto No. 2 in E major BWV1042 (pre-1730) [17:32]
Antonio VIVALDI
Concerto Grosso in A minor for Two Violins, Op. 3 No. 8 (1711) [11:29]
David Oistrakh (violin)
Igor Oistrakh (Vivaldi I; Bach Concerto for 2 Violins)
Isaac Stern (Vivaldi II)
Leipzig Gewandhausorchester/Franz Konwitschny (Vivaldi I; Bach Concerto for 2 Violins)
Moscow Chamber Orchestra/Rudolf Barshai (Bach Concerto No. 1)
Philadelphia Orchestra/Eugene Ormandy (Bach Concerto No. 2 and Vivaldi II).
rec. 1956-61
REGIS RRC1408 [74:47]
The renowned David Oistrakh (1908-1974) was born David Fyodorovich
Oistrakh. He began learning to play the violin with Pyotr Stoliarsky
in Odessa, making his debut at the age of six. When asked about when
he started playing the violin Oistrakh replied: ‘However hard
I try, I can’t recall ever having been without a violin during
my childhood. I was three and a half when my father brought home a toy
violin for me. As I played it I imagined I was a street violinist, a
poor man’s occupation that was widespread in Odessa at the time.
But I could not imagine any greater happiness.’ This joy
and warmth is intelligently translated in these fine recordings. After
studying at the Odessa Conservatory (1923-6), he appeared as soloist
in Glazunov’s Violin Concerto in Kiev in 1927. Over the
next few decades he would be the dedicatee of the violin concertos by
Shostakovichand Khachaturian.
Originating from the Latin words ‘conserere’ (to weave)
and ‘certamen’ (competition), one can see how the concerto
which consists of two parts (the soloist and orchestra) intertwine and
jostle. The effect is heightened and compounded when Oistrakh joins
with Igor Oistrakh and Isaac Stern in the Vivaldi.
In 1711 Estienne Roger published Antonio Vivaldi’s first set of
concertos entitled ‘L’estro armonico’. Corelli was
certainly an influence to the youngPrete Rosso, but in his lighter
Venetian style, Vivaldi moved away from the sometimes cumbersome Roman
model established by Corelli. As the dominant instrumental genre, the
concerto grosso was influenced by the stunning arias of the opera
seria and by composers such as Torelli, Tomaso, Albinoni and Vivaldi.
For them the violin took centre-stage and sang in a more commanding
way.
The 1956 recording of Vivaldi’s Concerto Grosso with Stern
is entirely different to the 1957 recording with Igor Oistrakh. Both
feature on this CD as intriguing points of comparison. The Leipzig
Gewandhausorchester conducted by Konwitschny has a particularly
unpretentious, modest sound. The Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by
Eugene Ormandy has a much more robust and full-bodied sound, due in
part to the better recording quality. In the 1956 version, which
was actually recorded on Christmas Eve in 1955, the two violinists play
with conviction and produce a warming timbre. In comparison, the 1957
recording sounds muted. The second movement (Larghetto e spiritoso),
has a distant, nostalgic feeling with the Oistrakhs (father and son),
With Stern there is greater definition and a sense of sustained longing
prevails. With more pronounced détaché traîné
between each bow-change on the Oistrakh-Stern recording, Vivaldi’s
disconsolate A minor mood seems more authentic. However, whilst the
sound quality and performance of the Oistrakh-Stern recording is most
commendable, Sam Franko’s editing decision to replace the ending
with something from a completely different work is slightly bemusing.
In the slow movement, Vivaldi’s operatic arioso-inspired sarabande
and passacaglia are played with impeccable lyricism. Oistrakh’s
characteristically seamless bow-changes and slow vibrato create a milky
and rich sound.
Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins BWV 1043 is one of his
most famous works. The ‘Bach Double’ was composed between
1717 and 1723 when he was the Kapellmeister at the court of Anhalt-Köthen
in Germany. Following a fugal style and with a great deal of counterpoint,
this work communicates as a dialogue between two lovers. At once enamoured
and enraged it tests the expressiveness of the two violinists. This
recording exhibits Oistrakh’s exacting intonation and natural
delivery, particularly throughout the twists and turns of the finale.
Prefiguring the more traditional concerto sound that developed in the
following century, Bach’s first and second violin concertos are
masterfully played by Oistrakh.
Oistrakh felt that a violinist's essence was communicated through clever
and subtle use of the bow, and not through overly expressive use of
vibrato. Nowhere is this more evident than in the silver tones of the
Andante to Bach’s Violin Concerto in A minor. With
a remarkably relaxed, flexible right arm, Oistrakh produces a nuanced,
delicate and controlled sound. With a great dynamic range and fully
rounded projection this is one of the finest recordings of Bach’s
infamous first concerto.
Unlike Mozart’s showmanship concertos, Bach’s concertos
consist of an involved and intricate dialogue between orchestra and
soloist. Sensitive to this dynamic, Oistrakh positions himself as primus
inter pares and never unnecessarily elbows the orchestra out of
the way to demonstrate flair or virtuosity. In the Violin Concerto
in E major Oistrakh adds to the texture rather than stubbornly overshadowing
the orchestra. N. Forkel, Bach's original biographer, describes the
triumphant singing of the first and last movements as being ‘full
of an unconquerable joy of life’. Contrastingly, beginning with
a haunting bass line which is repeated throughout, the Adagio
to the second concerto is best described as ‘sfumato’ in
style. Defining this method of painting in his notebooks, Leonardo da
Vinci wrote that it appears ‘without lines or borders, in the
manner of smoke or beyond the focus plane’. Indeed, in this recording
all sounds converge resulting in an exhale of emotion which evaporates
like smoke, leaving a transfixing ambience in its wake.
Lucy Jeffery
Masterwork Index: Bach violin
concertos
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