Pancho VLADIGEROV (1899-1978)
Georgi Badev (violin), Dina Schneidermann (violin), Emil Karmilarov (violin), Ventseslav Nikolov (cello)
Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra/Alexander Vladigerov
Bulgarian Chamber Orchestra/Pancho Vladigerov (Bulgarian Dance)
rec. 1970-75, Balkanton, Sofia
CAPRICCIO C8064 [65:33 + 61:35]
Capriccio’s restoration of Balkanton’s series of Vladigerov LPs from the 1970s continues apace. Now it’s the turn of the string concertos or concertante works which means, in practice, almost all works for the violin, the instrument played by his twin brother Lyuben.
In a review of a previous recording of the First Violin Concerto by Svetlin Roussev - with the same orchestra as on this Capriccio disc (see review) - I confessed that whilst I had heard the Melodiya LP recording made by Valentin Zhuk, I’d not heard Georgi Badev. Well, here he is, playing the concerto written for - and premièred by - Lyuben Vladigerov. Balkanton’s engineers favoured brilliantly punchy sonics, which suited music that is generously effusive, to put things mildly. I won’t go into the kind of detail I did when reviewing Roussev’s performance, which is a splendid up-to-date alternative, though its coupling of the Tchaikovsky makes it arguably less competitive in the marketplace, but suffice to say that Badev with the composer’s son Alexander on the rostrum shows why he was so admired. He marries hard attack with tensile lyricism, draws out the profuse romanticism of the music, as well as the central movement’s village life dance elements. His tone is big and rounded and he’s not afraid to embrace each quotient of Vladigerov’s musical arsenal – elevated, pesante, salon, virtuoso, descriptive. A truly spellbinding performance.
Nearly 50 years later Vladigerov wrote his Second Concerto for Dina Schneidermann who premièred it and recorded it with Alexander Vladigerov once again. (In fact, the only performance in this twofer not directed by him is The Bulgarian Dance, which is conducted by Pancho himself.) It’s predicated on very similar lines to the earlier work and is full of arresting late-romanticism though here there is an added quotient of filmic passion in the slow movement – music that sounds to my ears very much like a popular song – and a vigorous Balkan finale. Here the soloist really does show her paces, nimbly executing the virtuoso pirouettes demanded of her, Vladigerov’s orchestration veering between discreetly supportive and eruptively jubilant. You could hardly wish for better performances of either concerto or in such Technicolor sound too.
The second disc presents the series of soloistic pieces with orchestra that he wrote between 1917 and 1941 – or 1958 if you allow a revision to the Bulgarian Rhapsody. The Burlesque is a sonata form nationalist piece with two folk songs at its core; there are lashings of punchy wit to be savoured in this display work. The Bulgarian Paraphrase is an unbuttoned dance employing the ‘Horo’. It’s an orchestral arrangement of an original for violin and piano. Also cast in that original form is one of Vladigerov’s most famous works, the Bulgarian Rhapsody ‘Vardar’. There seems to be some confusion as to whether the piece Badev plays is the violin-and-orchestra revision of 1951 (booklet note) or 1958 (track listing). Either way, he plays this and the two preceding pieces with immense flair, the Rhapsody’s anthemic Chorale being resplendently voiced in this passionate reading. It’s Schneidermann who plays the violin-and-orchestral Lied extracted from the Bulgarian Suite, for orchestra. Its lyric-melancholic profile is expansively beautiful. She is joined by fellow fiddler Emil Kamilarov for a
‘Grand Hora’ from the seventh of the Bulgarian Dances which the composer reworked for two violins and orchestra from his 1931 orchestral original. Quite a bit of recycling went on in the Vladigerov foundry.
The final pieces are for the cello. The Elegiac Romance exudes late romantic melancholy, whilst the Concert Fantasy (the documentation is again at war regarding the date; 1941 or 1948; I’m going with the earlier date) is a much quieter affair than one for the violin would have been with one brief terpsichorean paragraph toward the end. One doesn’t feel Vladigerov inspired much by the cello, and finely though Ventseslav Nikolov plays he can’t quite convince one otherwise.
Christian Heindl’s notes are fine and the original tapes have come up bright and colourful. Yes, the recordings are now almost 50 years old but they are the real deal and Vladigerov admirers needn’t hesitate.
Jonathan Woolf
Previous review: Rob Barnett
Contents:
Violin Concerto No 1 in F minor, Op 11 (1920) [31:01]
Violin Concerto No 2 in G minor, Op 61 (1968) [34:30]
Burlesque for violin and orchestra, Op 14 (1922) [11:08]
Bulgarian Paraphrases, Op 18 No 1 ‘Horo’ (1925) [8:37]
Bulgarian Rhapsody for violin and orchestra 'Vardar', Op 16 (1922/58) [8:43]
Bulgarian Suite: Lied, for violin and orchestra, Op 21 (1927) [6:52]
Bulgarian Dance for two violins and string orchestra (1931) [5:21]
Elegiac Romance for cello and orchestra (1917) [8:25]
Concert Fantasy for cello and orchestra, Op 35 (1941) [12:25]
