The accompanying sound is quite sensitive to the needs of the soloist orchestral tuttis are rich, powerful, and consummate. The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra also deserves kudos for this recording. Unlike the Barber, Walton’s Presto movement is quite energetic and almost diabolical - a very satisfying performance. Like Korngold, Walton is another composer leading somewhat of a double life between film composition and music specifically for the concert hall, but Walton does not reuse materials from his film scores. The third movement, while well executed, is a bit on the slow side until the final push to the end. The second movement especially, with its extensive passages on the G and D strings, puts the listener awash in the violin’s sound. The Barber concerto is filled with lush, lugubrious playing. It is nonetheless an entertaining work and Ehnes’ interpretation is both engaging and solicitous. There are parts of the concerto that still sound as if it was created for the screen instead of the concert hall, especially the orchestral tuttis. Take the second movement of Walton’s Concerto as an example. Ehnes’ sound seems to be especially well suited for these three works, each demanding rich, fluid tone stellar technique and exceptional sensitivity and musicality.Īficionados of classic movies may recognize portions of the Korngold concerto as the composer lifted several of the melodies from his favorite film scores. Bartk’s and Walton’s Violin Concertos, the latter a wonderful piece shamefully missing from the regular concert repertoire, requires significant chamber abilities and attentiveness from the soloist and orchestra, and happily, this is one of the highlights of this release.
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Violinist James Ehnes unites with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Bramwell Tovey for this noteworthy collection of concertos by Korngold, Barber, and Walton. Great recording too, caught on four sessions at the Bavaria Musikstudios Munich. The intimacy of the smaller orchestration shows another side to Kim and the orchestra, more modest and calm, and the inclusion of this concerto is a generous addition to a superb album. The performance is as dedicated as the two other concertos, this time incorporating more sentimental gestures by the soloist, who is clearly deeply attached to this piece. Hartmann’s “Concerto Funèbre” for violin and string orchestra is placed between Walton and Bartók. This won’t win listeners who are looking for the wild chase of other versions ( Tetzlaff, Kopatchinskaja), especially when Edusei and the orchestra adopt a modest take on the chamber-like exchanges, but the performance is so cohesive and played with such conviction, one soon forgets other versions. In the third movement, Kim finds a good balance between dance-like charm, ironic wit and soberness. that couple these two concertos, but in any case it would be difficult to. The second movement is, again, direct and almost no-nonsense, yet this gives it additional serenity. Viola & Violin Concertos It may not be a crowded field, but Walton's is the. As in Walton’s Concerto, the technical challenges are met with impressive accuracy. It’s in the difficult transitions of the first movement that Kim and Edusei are most impressive (6:00 onward, first track of the second CD), where many performances stalls, and here the suspense is highly effective.
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Here it seems the approach looks back in time rather than looks forward, but in any case, it will win over many listeners for its conviction alone. Throughout, Kim’s performance is strong, sincere, with a proper amount of warmth that never feels exaggerated, very much in accordance with the character of the piece, which bridges 19th-century romanticism with twentieth-century modernism.īartók’s Second Violin Concerto is given a more lyrical, less revolutionary performance than, say, Patricia Kopatchinskaja’s stormy, sometimes unorthodox version. The Münchner Symphoniker with conductor Kevin John Edusei are superb partners, with an assured performance by individual soloists and the string section. In the fast-paced segments on all three movements, the violinist shows an impressive technical command, matching past reference performance by Bell, Kennedy and Ehnes. How Kim exchanges music ideas with the woodwind and brass, or the way she adapts her tone and volume to allow the atmospheric orchestration to have just the right effect (3:00 onward, track 2). Bartók’s and Walton’s Violin Concertos, the latter a wonderful piece shamefully missing from the regular concert repertoire, requires significant chamber abilities and attentiveness from the soloist and orchestra, and happily, this is one of the highlights of this release. This double album contains three masterful Violin Concertos that premiered in 1939.