Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Violin Concerto in D Op. 61 (1806) [44:06]
Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897)
Violin Concerto in D Op. 77 (1878) [40:14]
Ginette Neveu (violin)
SWDR Orchestra/Hans Rosbaud (Beethoven)
Orchestre National de France/Roger Desormière (Brahms)
rec. 25 April 1948 (Brahms), 25 September 1949 (Beethoven), Baden-Baden, Kurhaus
SWR MUSIC 19018CD [40:14 + 44:06]
These broadcast performances have been released before.
The Beethoven with Rosbaud shows a characterful sensitivity and sweetness
to Neveu’s playing in the first movement of this 1949 traversal—the
odd intonational lapse aside—even if the recording itself is rather
close up, sufficient at any rate to catch the violinist’s constant sniffing.
Rosbaud characterizes the brass behind her from around 13.00 with insistent
unease—indeed he points up myriad little cogent architectural-expressive
details, exploring the turbulence of the work in a way few other conductors
manage. One of Neveu’s few besetting faults was a tendency to rush bars
and she does so here just before the cadenza but her subsequent control is
one of real strength and pliancy, terracing her dynamics accordingly and ending
the movement with strength. In the slow movement one can best appreciate Neveu’s
strikingly Gallic use of vibrancy and colour. Intensely expressive at a relatively
slow tempo with perfectly judged diminuendos, her vibrato usage here is charged
both with depth but also with speed change. Her slides are affecting, though
perhaps a little out of style for this period. All is affectionate, if leisurely,
with some irresistible lift and life in the playing. Strong contouring comes
from the conductor—but there are some signs that Neveu is tiring toward
the end with occasionally loose playing. Still this is a marvellous example
of her musicianship caught on the wing.
Desormière’s conducting of the Brahms Concerto is a striking example
of subjective intelligence. He indulges some very extreme tempo rubato in
the orchestral introduction—full of flexibility and elasticity of phrasing.
Neveu is, as with her commercial disc, intense and propulsive in this work
She vests her line with some succulent phrasing, big boned, and portamenti
feature strongly amongst her arsenal of inflective devices. Maybe there’s
a temporary lack of orchestral clarity from 8.30 onwards and Neveu is still
inclined to jump her bars once or twice but this is still a formidable pairing
of talents. The recording overloads at fortissimi from time to time but only
the super scrupulous will mind. Her colouristic palette reigns in the slow
movement though possibly some might find her a little glutinous at certain
moments. There is once more overload in the finale—percussion his time—but
this is strong, agile and commanding playing even if, so far as I’m
concerned, there is also a hint of rhythmic unsteadiness as well.
There isn’t much audible difference between these restorations and those
on Music and Arts CD550, which has just the Beethoven, and Tahra 2.355-2.357,
which houses both concerto performances and much more besides. The same rapid
flickering sound in the Beethoven has been preserved, and so have other spillages
and noises off. However, the sound is perfectly acceptable for the vintage
and allows one to concentrate on the spellbinding association between a great
violinist and her two perceptive conducting colleagues.
Jonathan Woolf
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