| Site review by Castor October 12, 2007
|
Performance: Sonics (MC): |
For those who have purchased the first two SACDs of Julia Fischer’s traversal of the Mozart works for violin and orchestra, this is a self-recommending issue. All the sterling qualities shown by Julia Fischer in the two earlier releases including flawless technique, outstanding sensitivity and a wonderful sense of line are once more in evidence, but here, in the E flat Sinfonia concertante K364, her close partnership with Yakov Kreizberg is most successfully extended to encompass the mellow viola playing of Gordan Nikolic.
The opening Allegro maestoso of the Sinfonia concertante is taken at an unusually brisk tempo with crisp playing from the strings of the superb Netherlands Chamber Orchestra. From the first entry of the soloists it is clear that neither are unduly spotlit – a welcome change from many of the recordings of this piece on RBCD. The reverberant acoustic of the Doopsgezinde Kerk, Haarlem, makes the orchestra appear as a larger body than some might prefer in this piece, but thanks to PentaTone’s superb engineering and the conductor’s careful control of balance there is no undue thickening of textures or loss of detail.
The exquisite slow movement that is the heart of this work is taken at a true Andante, avoiding any hint of sentimentality, and here the rich sound of Gordan Nikolic’s viola contrasts with, and at the same time complements, Julia Fischer’s silvery tone. This is music making of the highest order capturing the haunting melancholy and spiritual beauty of this music to perfection. The start of the final Presto is beautifully pointed by Kreizberg whose care to ensure that the woodwind and horn parts emerge with clarity in this acoustic is evident throughout these recordings. Both soloists really do communicate a sense of enjoyment to the listener in this joyous finale.
The delightful Rondo K373, including a brief and tasteful cadenza by Julia Fischer, is again played with wonderful fluency and 18th century elegance.
In the Concertone in C, K190 Gordan Nikolic exchanges his viola for a violin and a discreet harpsichord joins the orchestra. In this work I found the recorded sound to be at its most transparent, allowing appreciation of not only the two well-matched violin soloists but also the fine oboe and cello contributions of Hans Mayer and Herre Jan Stegenga respectively.
These are treasureable performances and I have no hesitation in giving this disc a top recommendation.
|
Copyright © 2007 Graham Williams and SA-CD.net
|
|
|
| Site review by Polly Nomial October 30, 2007
|
Performance: Sonics (MC): |
Sad though this is to relate, coming on the back of her triumph at the Gramophone awards, this disc cannot be recommended to anyone except perhaps devotees of Julia Fischer (of which there are deservedly many).
Fischer plays like the great artist that she undoubtedly is and her tone and attack are ravishing in their sweetness and delicacy married to a wonderful musicianship. Unlike in the other discs that partner this release, Mozart: Violin Concertos Nos. 1, 2 & 5 - Fischer, Kreizberg and Mozart: Violin Concertos - Fischer/Kreizberg, the direction of Yakov Kreizberg is not quite on the same wavelength as his star soloist and the opening tutti to the glorious Sinfonia Concertante has numerous felicities brushed over or ignored in a quite a cavalier fashion that are normally easily audible on even RBCD.
However the most unnerving aspect of the disc is the choice of Gordan Nikolic as her viola or violin soloist-in-arms for his approach could not be more different than Fischer's. It may simply be a case that his technique cannot match Fischer's (almost certainly true in more taxing music but in Mozart?) or that he tried too hard to differentiate his sound from Fischer but the result is where one sings, the other scratches. I have heard principals of (amongst others) the great orchestras of central Europe make a far more convincing team than this and as he is not contracted to a particular label at present, the wonderful Wolfram Christ would surely have been a far better choice as a violist. I am not so perturbed about the Concertone as the musical inspiration is several leagues beneath the Sinfonia Concertante and this is one piece of Mozart that I would not choose to listen to for pleasure.
The Pentatone recording is fantastic and in some ways rubs salt in the wound - if they had not presented such detail then the scraping and rough playing from Nikolic would not have irritated me to anywhere near the same degree and neither would the trampling of details be so concerning but the moment Fischer's violin tone soars away, we know that the artists are at fault not Pentatone.
It may be that Fischer's productive relationship with Kreizberg is going through a lean patch - let us certainly hope so given the absolutely thrilling discs they have lavished on our ears before...
|
Copyright © 2007 John Broggio and SA-CD.net
|
|
|
| Review by Domimag November 24, 2007 (5 of 6 found this review helpful)
|
Performance: Sonics (MC): |
The Mozart Violin Concertos by Fischer and Kreisberg were very interesting. With Nikolic playing the viola, this new release is an absolute marvel. We have clearly here a large and symphonic version of the main score (sinfonia concertante), the best as I could hear till now.
Both soloists have a frank dialogue, well balanced and no one try to be the leader. Kreizberg offer a very good orchestral accompaniment.
The others pieces on this SACD are not well known and, personnally, I have no landmark on it.
The sound has more bass support and is more reverberant than the recent Helmchen-Nikolic (with the same orchester). The reason is certainly this one has been recorded in a church.
Pentatone's ingeneers made as usual a wonderful job !
|
Was this review helpful to you?
|
|
|
