| Review by krisjan February 17, 2010 (7 of 8 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics (S): |
I bought this (despite not really needing another Tchaikovsky Vln Cto disc) because of the excellent Bloch/Bernstein/Barber SACD with these same forces. Vadim Gluzman is an amazingly talented violinist and his playing here is of the same very high calibre as the B/B/B release. I would put his playing of the Tchaikovsky up against any current violinist, it is that good. His intonation is nigh on perfect, his tone is vibrant and sweet in cantabile (just listen to the high harmonics in the last movement - it almost sounds like someone whistling the melody, an effect I've never quite heard like this before) and forceful and vigorous (but never crude) in forte passages. Supremely musical. But, it takes more than an outstanding soloist to play a concerto. In this case, Andrew Litton conducts the Bergen Philharmonic in an appropriately supportive fashion. There are moments where Litton and crew can barely keep up with Gluzman and the spell of Gluzman's playing is slightly marred. Overall though, the accompaniment is top notch.
The accompanying pieces, Glazunov's violin concerto and the orchestral arrangement of Tchaikovsky's Souvenir d'un Lieu Cher, are also very well done. Glazunov's concerto doesn't come close to having the memorable tunes that Tchaik's does and is a much less interesting composition as a result. The performance here wrings the most from the work and, again, Gluzman's playing is wonderful. I prefer Gluzman to Julia Fischer in the Glazunov. I especially liked the Souvenir d'un Lieu Cher in it's orchestral garb making this a well-filled SACD with 70+ minutes of music.
The stereo sonics are very good. The soloist is spot-lit (hard to get away from that in recordings) but not so much as many. I miss some low end fullness and bloom which seems to be a consistent feature of the BIS recordings coming from Bergen but the massed strings have a natural sound as do the winds and brass. Highly recommended.
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| Review by jeff3948 June 20, 2012 (4 of 7 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics (MC): |
Vive la Vadim, Lauda Litton, Bravissimo Bergen, and Bravo BIS
Performance
Wow, what a performance! Vadim, Litton and the Bergen give us the most exciting final movement of the Tchaikovsky I‘ve ever heard. Vadim’s emotional bravura and romantic spirit is in full bloom and Litton’s strong and passionate interpretation with his Bergen Philharmonic succeeds in giving us the most exciting Tchaikovsky performance in a very long time. Vadim’s gives us some phasing I have never heard before, all I can say is that it works and put many smiles on my face as I heard each new twist, saying to myself, wow, I never heard it done like that before, but I like it! The Glazunov and Tchaikovsky Souvenir d'un lieu cher (Memory of a dear place) are sumptuous and well done as well. Vadim violin tone in this recording is the most beautiful I've ever heard on a recording. He creates a tone that sounds almost like the voice of a soprano at various points.
Recording
BIS engineer, Andreas Ruge gives us a very warm recording; I would imagine that is partly due to the Grieg Hall in Bergen Norway which is captured very well, creating that highly sought after you-are-there experience. He captures Vadim's tone extremely well and the medium frequency reverberation is well reproduced. His position tends to shift from just right of center to just left of center, probably because Vadim is twisting his body which changes the direction of the sound projection which is exactly what I notice in the concert hall. The reverberation is slightly shorter compared to other halls (just over 1.5 seconds) but it is still very attractive, aided by the rear speakers. One tiny little problem that seems to be in many recordings these days is that the winds sound too far from left to right. The flutes are too far left and the bassoon to far right. If the recording has an audience perspective, I prefer the winds to be centered more like they would be in a concert, but that is a very small quirk that really does not hinder the experience. The sound of the orchestra feels like a warm blanket, but still captures all the details with shimmering strings, woody winds, bronzy brass and powerful percussion (ok, Jeff, that is enough with the word play! We get it, you loved it and it inspired you to create those silly adjective/noun combinations that start with the same letter . . . ok, ok I’ll stop)
Conclusion:
A must have, even if you have ten other recordings of the Tchaikovsky already, like I do: FYI - My other recordings are Perlman/Leinsdorf, Repin, Stern, Fischer, Bell/Tilson Thomas, Milstein/Abbado, Wha Chung. Mutter/Previn, Mutter/Karajan, and Heifetz.
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