Bruch Violin Concerto No 1; Romance
Bruch’s late chamber music shows little advance on his much-loved concerto
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Max Bruch
Genre:
Orchestral
Label: BIS
Magazine Review Date: 8/2011
Media Format: Hybrid SACD
Media Runtime: 58
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: BIS-SACD1852
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 1 |
Max Bruch, Composer
Andrew Litton, Conductor Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra Max Bruch, Composer Vadim Gluzman, Violin |
Romance |
Max Bruch, Composer
Andrew Litton, Conductor Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra Max Bruch, Composer |
Quintet for Strings (in A) |
Max Bruch, Composer
Ilze Klava, Viola Max Bruch, Composer Maxim Rysanov, Viola Reinis Birznieks, Cello Sandis Steinbergs, Violin Vadim Gluzman, Violin |
Author: DuncanDruce
This performance of the Quintet is robust and confident. High-powered playing and a resonant recording combine to create an almost orchestral sound. Vadim Gluzman plays the finale’s virtuoso passages magnificently but I find, in the lyrical stretches of this movement and in the Adagio, that intense tone, with fast vibrato and much bow pressure, works against a musical style that is generally quite simple and serene.
I prefer this account of the Concerto to the recent recording by Daniel Hope (DG, 5/11), mainly because Gluzman and Litton are more alive to the desirability of maintaining a sense of momentum. It’s a performance with wonderful moments – for example the turn to G flat in the Adagio (track 2, 4'17") – and Gluzman has a bold, thrilling way with the brilliant passages. But I do feel that the concerto sounds most beautiful when the soloist has a purer, clearer tone, like Erica Morini’s in 1960 (DG Originals). Her calmer, less pressured approach makes it easier to convey the music’s emotional ebb and flow.
The Romance, another late work, was originally for viola. Bruch himself provided the alternative violin part and Gluzman’s performance is thoroughly pleasing. However, the music does appear more distinctive on the larger instrument, as on Yuri Bashmet’s (RCA).
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