Gruber Violin Concertos Nos 1 and 2
Gruber’s engaging concertos for violin and for a trio of ‘buskers’
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Heinz Karl 'Nali' Gruber
Genre:
Orchestral
Label: BIS
Magazine Review Date: 5/2011
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
Stereo
Catalogue Number: BIS-CD1781

Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Busking |
Heinz Karl 'Nali' Gruber, Composer
Håkan Hardenberger, Trumpet Heinz Karl Gruber, Conductor Heinz Karl 'Nali' Gruber, Composer Swedish Chamber Orchestra |
Nebelsteinmusik (Concerto for Violin and Orchestra) |
Heinz Karl 'Nali' Gruber, Composer
Heinz Karl Gruber, Conductor Heinz Karl 'Nali' Gruber, Composer Katarina Andreasson, Violin Swedish Chamber Orchestra |
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 1 |
Heinz Karl 'Nali' Gruber, Composer
Heinz Karl Gruber, Conductor Heinz Karl 'Nali' Gruber, Composer Katarina Andreasson, Violin Swedish Chamber Orchestra |
Author: Arnold Whittall
The two violin concertos are the most engaging works here: the first turns a shadowy eroticism not a million miles from Berg or Korngold into a kaleidoscopic if rather protracted fantasia, while the second (a tribute to Gruber’s mentor Gottfried von Einem) is even more impressive, its neo-Baroque associations ducking and diving in all sorts of directions at once, yet avoiding the obvious – as any composition taking one of its cues from Berg’s Lyric Suite needs to do. Both concertos benefit from the personable solo playing of Katarina Andreasson, and from Gruber’s skill as a conductor shaping the intensely fluid rhythmic scenarios of these deceptively ingratiating scores.
Busking dates from 2007 and comes across as a rather sprawling vehicle for the ever-enterprising Håkan Hardenberger. To use banjo and accordion in support emphasises their relative reticence as sound sources and, although the kind of quasi-improvisatory high jinks implied by the title surface now and again, the risks of blandness aren’t completely avoided. Even with these reservations, however, this disc is a substantial and well-recorded addition to BIS’s Gruber series.
Discover the world's largest classical music catalogue with Presto Music.

Gramophone Digital Club
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £8.75 / month
Subscribe
Gramophone Full Club
- Print Edition
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £11.00 / month
Subscribe
If you are a library, university or other organisation that would be interested in an institutional subscription to Gramophone please click here for further information.