Beethoven & Schnittke: Violin Concertos

Beethoven & Schnittke: Violin Concertos cover $35.00 Low Stock add to cart

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
Beethoven & Schnittke: Violin Concertos
Vadim Gluzman (violin), Luzerner Sinfonieorchester / James Gaffigan

[ BIS / CD ]

Release Date: Friday 7 May 2021

Should this item be out of stock at the time of your order, we would expect to be able to supply it to you within 2 - 5 business days.

After acclaimed recordings of the great Romantic violin concertos by Brahms, Bruch and Tchaikovsky, Vadim Gluzman takes on the work that in the beginning of the 19th century mapped out a new course for the genre: Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61. With this work, Beethoven rejected the idea of a virtuoso display piece with a largely irrelevant orchestral accompaniment. Instead he presented a symphonic reinterpretation of the concerto principle, with soloist and orchestra becoming equal partners in a texture that is interwoven on many levels. Largely forgotten for several decades after the first performance in 1806, it is now considered one of the greatest violin concertos. However innovative Beethoven was in his opus 61, he nevertheless remained true to the tradition of allowing the soloist several cadenzas. Over the years, a number of composers and great violin virtuosos have proposed their own cadenzas for the concerto, with Alfred Schnittke being one of the more unexpected names.

For this recording, Gluzman has chosen to perform Schnittke's cadenzas, as a link to the second work on the disc: the composer's Concerto No. 3 for violin and chamber orchestra. To Schnittke, the relationship between soloist and orchestra is quite different from that demonstrated in Beethoven's score: 'It seems to me that this relationship is never harmonically equitable and balanced… The soloist and orchestra are in fact adversaries.' However they may be labelled, James Gaffigan and the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester nevertheless provide unstinting support to Gluzman in both scores.

"Only time will tell, but I will be genuinely surprised if this account of the Beethoven doesn't join the ranks of such legendary performances as Kreisler, Menuhin or Schneiderhan. In other words, this isn't just a good modern version but good: full stop. I have noted how the performers draw out the darker aspects of the Beethoven but they do so that the bright colours gleam even brighter." MusicWeb Recommended

Tracks:

Ludwig van Beethoven:
Concerto in D major for violin and orchestra, Op. 61 [cadenzas by A. Schnittke]

Alfred Schnittke:
Concerto No. 3 for violin and chamber orchestra (1978)