Bruch Violin Concerto No 1; Romance

Bruch’s late chamber music shows little advance on his much-loved concerto

Record and Artist Details

Composer or Director: Max Bruch

Genre:

Orchestral

Label: BIS

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
Between 1918 and his death two years later, the octogenarian Bruch, in a final burst of creativity, wrote two string quintets and an octet. The A minor Quintet has a particularly fine first movement. What is most surprising, however, is that Bruch’s style has not moved on from the G minor Concerto, written 50 years previously.

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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