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Lydia Mordkovitch, London SO, Richard Hickox - Max Bruch: Violin Concertos Nos. 2 & 3 (2015)

Posted By: Designol
Lydia Mordkovitch, London SO, Richard Hickox - Max Bruch: Violin Concertos Nos. 2 & 3 (2015)

Max Bruch - Violin Concertos Nos. 2 & 3 (2015)
Lydia Mordkovitch, violin; London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Richard Hickox

EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 318 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 147 Mb | Scans included
Genre: Classical | Label: Chandos | # CHAN 10865X | Time: 01:10:50

As part of Chandos Tribute to Lydia Mordkovitch, this re-issue features Bruch’s Violin Concertos Nos 2 and 3 performed by Lydia Mordkovitch with Richard Hickox and the London Symphony Orchestra. Both were recorded in 1998 in Blackheath Halls in London.

Although his early fame rested on his choral music, Bruch also loved the violin which, in his opinion, ‘can sing a melody, and melody is the soul of music’. For his nine concerted works for the instrument he always took advice from such virtuosi as Joachim, Sarasate, and Willy Hess. In Violin Concerto No. 2, ‘Hickox draws radiant sounds from the LSO; Lydia Mordkovitch plays with rapt dedication at speed, producing pianissimos of breathtaking beauty’, according to The Guardian. The piece is unusual in having a slow first movement, which is broad and powerful in its orchestration and contains brilliant passagework for the soloist. It is followed by another unusual feature, a middle movement in the style of a recitative, leading directly into a substantial and rhythmic Finale.

Unlike its two predecessors, Violin Concerto No. 3 is written in the classical mould. Its robust opening concertante movement is broad and heroic rather than lyrical. It precedes a slow movement reminiscent of that of the famous First Concerto, and a Finale in a conventional rondo form, dominated by a strongly rhythmic perpetuum mobile.

Lydia Mordkovitch passed away last year at the age of 70. She was a founding artist of the Chandos label, making in the vicinity of forty recordings, often of quite obscure repertoire, the Dyson concerto being a particular favourite of mine. This is one of a number of tribute reissues, the two works originally released on separate CDs (CHAN9738 and CHAN9784), coupled with Bruch symphonies.

Max Bruch despaired of the popularity of his First concerto, considering the Second to be at least its equal. I think that those agreeing with that assessment would be in a very, very small minority, but it is certainly under-appreciated. It was written for Sarasate, who performed at its premiere at London’s Crystal Palace. Its structure is unusual, a long Adagio non troppo to open, occupying half the work’s duration, followed by two Allegros. Brahms was disparaging of this, believing that the opening movement was “intolerable for normal people”.

Mordkovitch delivers an intensely poetic reading of the Adagio, slow without ever losing forward impetus. It contrasts strongly with my reference for this work, Nai-Yuan Hu on a 1990s Delos recording with Gerard Schwarz in Seattle. He is fully three and half minutes quicker in this movement. I prefer his version, but can see many merits in that of Mordkovitch. She again takes the slower route in the brief second movement Recitative (Allegro moderato), perhaps too much so in terms of providing contrast from what has come before. The final movement Allegro molto is half a minute slower than Hu, but this is not really noticeable, and Mordkovitch’s overall conception of the drama in this work is sustained to the end with great success. Both versions will sit very happily in my collection.

As Bruch got older, his concertos got larger but not better. The Third has plenty of beautiful moments, as all Bruch works do, but it is not able to sustain interest for its duration of approaching forty minutes (or even longer in this instance). In a review that I wrote at the same time as this one, I penned the most scathing comments I have made for this site on another all-Bruch recording, that by Jack Liebeck of the Third Concerto and Scottish Fantasy on Hyperion CDA6805. My criticism centred around the soloist’s lack of involvement, and the absence of both poetry and drama in each work. Mordkovitch begins the Third Concerto even more slowly than Liebeck, stretching the opening movement to more than twenty minutes, two minutes more than any other recording. This clearly ignores the energico marking, but unlike Liebeck and as in the Second Concerto, she manages to maintain some sense of momentum. The remaining movements are better, the finale particularly so.

There is a direct competitor for this recording, with Maxim Fedotov on Naxos (review). I haven’t heard it, but the comments from my three colleagues suggest that it is nothing out of the ordinary. I note that there is a difference of more than ten minutes across the two works. I can safely say that the orchestral accompaniment on the Naxos will not compare with the Rolls Royce quality accorded to Mordkovitch. The notes are unusually perfunctory for this label.

Review by David Barker, MusicWeb-International.com

Lydia Mordkovitch, London SO, Richard Hickox - Max Bruch: Violin Concertos Nos. 2 & 3 (2015)



Lydia Mordkovitch, London SO, Richard Hickox - Max Bruch: Violin Concertos Nos. 2 & 3 (2015)



Tracklist:

Violin Concerto No.2, Op.44

01. I. Adagio ma non troppo (15:04)
02. II. Recitative. Allegro moderato (04:32)
03. III. Finale. Allegro molto (09:52)

Violin Concerto No.3, Op.58

04. I. Allegro energico (20:27)
05. II. Adagio (11:50)
06. III. Finale. Allegro molto (09:03)


Exact Audio Copy V1.1 from 23. June 2015

EAC extraction logfile from 29. April 2016, 1:16

Lydia Mordkovitch, LSO, Richard Hickox / Bruch - Violin Concertos Nos. 2 and 3

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foobar2000 1.2 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2016-05-13 13:13:07

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Analyzed: Lydia Mordkovitch, LSO, Richard Hickox / Bruch - Violin Concertos Nos. 2 and 3
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

DR Peak RMS Duration Track
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR16 -0.17 dB -23.07 dB 15:05 01-Violin Concerto No.2, Op.44 - I. Adagio ma non troppo
DR15 -5.41 dB -25.33 dB 4:32 02-Violin Concerto No.2, Op.44 - II. Recitative. Allegro moderato
DR14 -1.34 dB -21.33 dB 9:53 03-Violin Concerto No.2, Op.44 - III. Finale. Allegro molto
DR16 0.00 dB -21.74 dB 20:27 04-Violin Concerto No.3, Op.58 - I. Allegro energico
DR14 -11.42 dB -31.22 dB 11:50 05-Violin Concerto No.3, Op.58 - II. Adagio
DR14 -0.40 dB -21.22 dB 9:04 06-Violin Concerto No.3, Op.58 - III. Finale. Allegro molto
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Number of tracks: 6
Official DR value: DR15

Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 623 kbps
Codec: FLAC
================================================================================

Lydia Mordkovitch, London SO, Richard Hickox - Max Bruch: Violin Concertos Nos. 2 & 3 (2015)

All thanks to original releaser - A-Z

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