Brahms New
Violin Concerto in D, Op. 77a.
Double Concerto for Violin, Cello
and Orchestra in A minor, Op. 102b.
Gil Shaham (violin); bJian Wang (cello);
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra / Claudio Abbado.
DG 469 529-2 (full price, 1 hour 11 minutes).
Producers
aChristian Gansch, bChristopher Alder. Engineers
aKlaus Hiemann, bRainer Maillard. DateaMay 2000, bDecember 2001.
Comparisons:
Violin Concerto:
Menuhin, BPO/Kempe (EMI) CZS7 67310-2 (three
discs)
Stern, Philadelphia Orch/Ormandy (Sony) SBK46335
Double Concerto:
Ferras, Tortelier, Philh Orch/Kletzki (Testament) ASD549 (LP)
We have all become so used to the Berlin
Philharmonic's extraordinary blend of tonal integration and intonational
sophistication that there is always the danger of taking such things for
granted. Time and again throughout these performances I found myself seduced
simply by the sound these extraordinary
players make, with each section of the orchestra so meticulously balanced that
textures rendered bland on countless other recordings emerge freshly minted.
What a timely reminder, also, of Abbado's exceptional abilities as a concerto
accompanist, a facet of his artistry that has been captured on disc less than it
might have been.
No one could doubt the extraordinary rapport that exists between Abbado and Gil Shaham after seeing the Arthaus DVD of their electrifying Sarasate Carmen Fantasy. I mention this as it seems especially relevant here. This is a Brahms fiddle concerto that sparkles and seduces just as surely as though Shaham were tackling Wieniawski or Tchaikovsky. Gloriously unshackled from a performing tradition that invariably has almost every note voiced with a furrowed-brow, awe-struck nobility, there is a freshness and spontaneous flow about this performance that dispels all preconceptions of Brahms 'the portly Übermeister'. It is an approach that, particularly in the dreamy slow movement, makes even the treasurable Stern/Ormandy and Menuhin/Kempe versions seem just a shade earnest on occasion. Rarely has the joyful exuberance and light-footed (!) dancing of the finale been so engagingly captured as here.
Recordings of the Double Concerto have been dominated by the classic Ferras/Tortelier/Kletzki version for over 40 years, but this new one runs it pretty close. Shaham and Wang are a superb duo, responding to Brahms's tantalizing 'late' world of expansive compression with a devil-may-care intensity that will have you hanging on their every note. Add to that deeply committed support from Abbado and the BPO, and DG sonics that sound especially alluring in the Double Concerto's Jesus-Christus-Kirche (the Violin Concerto was recorded in the Philharmonie), and you have the finest concerto disc to have come my way so far this year.
Julian Haylock
used by permission
