BaL 12.1.19 - Prokofiev: Violin concerto 1 in D

[BBMmk2]

I've invested in the Chung/Previn recording on CD. Both Prokofiev concertos seem excellent to me, and the Stravinsky 'filler', which I've had on LP for decades, equally so.

You won’t be disappointed!

[Pulcinella]

I've invested in the Chung/Previn recording on CD. Both Prokofiev concertos seem excellent to me, and the Stravinsky 'filler', which I've had on LP for decades, equally so.

And I've always liked the Walton too, which was the other side of the LP: it came out on a Decca CD coupled with Elgar's Cello concerto.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Elgar-Cello-Concerto-Walton-Violin/dp/B00000E3Q1/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1549013140&sr=8-1&keywords=elgar+harrell+walton+chung

[edashtav]

You won't be disappointed; she is well-in command here, and that is meant as a compliment. Yannick Nézet-Séguin allows her full rein, and she accepts. Fabulous sound, too....

Recent weeks have been dominated by a Local History booklet that I've been writing. With its publication in sight, I was able to relax this afternoon by listening to my Batiashvili Prokofiev CD. My word did I enjoy her interpretation of the D major concerto: wonderful technical command, so poised and still when the music demanded it, neither a bum note nor a sour sound within hearing, and with such poetic insights. The conductor: Nézet-Séguin and the excellent Chamber Orchestra of Europe are brilliant at adopting and furthering Lisa's vision of the work. I like the balance that the recording engineers have achieved between soloist and orchestra and the whole sound-stage is alive and involving. I have other versions awaiting my attention, but this performance will be hard to beat. Warm thanks, indeed, to those who recommended it.
(As an aside , I was less attracted to Lisa's G minor intrpretation which has an ill-tuned and gruff trumpet phrase that should have been edited.)

[Barbirollians]

Recent weeks have been dominated by a Local History booklet that I've been writing. With its publication in sight, I was able to relax this afternoon by listening to my Batiashvili Prokofiev CD. My word did I enjoy her interpretation of the D major concerto: wonderful technical command, so poised and still when the music demanded it, neither a bum note nor a sour sound within hearing, and with such poetic insights. The conductor: Nézet-Séguin and the excellent Chamber Orchestra of Europe are brilliant at adopting and furthering Lisa's vision of the work. I like the balance that the recording engineers have achieved between soloist and orchestra and the whole sound-stage is alive and involving. I have other versions awaiting my attention, but this performance will be hard to beat. Warm thanks, indeed, to those who recommended it.
(As an aside , I was less attracted to Lisa's G minor intrpretation which has an ill-tuned and gruff trumpet phrase that should have been edited.)

I bought this record a few months ago and had not got round to playing it until last week. I was also , as always really, very taken with her playing of the concertos and the orchestra’s contribution though not enough to displace Chung at the very top of my tree.

I was less taken with the rather naff transcriptions of Prokofuev “ favourite bits” .

[edashtav]

I bought this record a few months ago and had not got round to playing it until last week. I was also , as always really, very taken with her playing of the concertos and the orchestra’s contribution though not enough to displace Chung at the very top of my tree.

I was less taken with the rather naff transcriptions of Prokofuev “ favourite bits” .

Yes, Barbirollians, those trivial off-cuts, repackaged by Lisa's father, do not enhance the album.

[edashtav]

Tonight, I've been tackling the Frank Peter Zimmermann / BPO/ Lorin Maazel CD which has languished on my "must spin" pile for a couple of weeks.

During its Andantino, I felt it was objective but lacking some of the elements of fantasy and fairytale that I've found so convincing in Frang and Batiashvili. However, there were telling details both from the soloist and the orchestra that I've not heard elsewhere and which were insightful. I loved FPZ's scherzo: fleet, technically secure, colourful and well characterised. The orchestral detail is neither as clear nor as forward as on Lisa's CD.
When it came to the finale, I loved FPZ's interpretation to bits and his important dialogues with the principal bassoon cracked with spontaneity and were so Prokofievian!

With Chung to come my three new-to-me CDs are triple delights, but if I were to be forced to place them in order, I would vote:
1. Frank Peter Zimmermann
2. Lisa Batiashvili
3. Vilde Frang

Many thanks to fellow Boarders whose recommendations were so soundly based and informative ...

but... I have yet to finish!

[visualnickmos]

Hello edashtav

Pretty much thoughts, too; I would put as my top 3, Zimmerman, Batiashvili, Chung - in no particular order - I love 'em all!

Frang - well, something doesn't quite "click" for me.....

[Maclintick]

I bought this record a few months ago and had not got round to playing it until last week. I was also , as always really, very taken with her playing of the concertos and the orchestra’s contribution though not enough to displace Chung at the very top of my tree.

Classy playing all round from Lisa & her distinguished partners in the COE -- as Ed says, every phrase articulated perfectly & with poise, yet losing very little in dramatic impact -- maybe yielding to KWC in the lead-up to the finale's coda, where the latter displays an elemental wildness. On the other hand, LB's extraordinarily other-worldly quality in that coda is mesmerising. I couldn't choose an overall "winner", though, & would rather rejoice that there are so many fine versions to enjoy...Must investigate the 2016 BIS recording by Vadim Gluzman, which I've unaccountably overlooked....

[Maclintick]

.Must investigate the 2016 BIS recording by Vadim Gluzman, which I've unaccountably overlooked....

Just listened to this courtesy of Apple Music's 3-months free deal touted over the Holiday Season, & very favourably impressed.
Anyone wanting a full-blooded, authentic old-style Russian version -- gutsy & soloist-dominant in the manner of Oistrakh or Stern shouldn't overlook this, especially as it's allied to a fine BIS recording which, while according Mr. Gluzman the limelight, does justice to the fine contribution of the Estonian National SO under Neeme Järvi -- though the latter are a tad monochrome compared to the COE under Nézet-Séguin in the Batiashvili account. An interesting sidelight, for connoisseurs of cat-guttery and those who've made a living scraping it, is that Gluzman plays the legendary "Leopold Auer" Strad, an instrument heard by Tchaikovsky,among others, although Auer refused to play his concerto. VG contributes this to his biog:

http://vadimgluzman.com/wp-content/u..._13_-_Auer.pdf

[edashtav]

Thanks for that link, Maclintick, and for that connection to Tchaikovsky's dedicatee.

I shall foolow your trail!

[edashtav]

Today, I've concentrated on what has long been the 'Critics Choice': Kyung Wha Chung with the LSO durected by André Previn recorded almost 44 years ago. I used the opening Andantino for my a/b comparisons. I noted the following durations:
Hilary Hahn (live Youtube ) 9mins.00sec (c. 2013)
Frank Peter Zimmermann 9' 29" (1988)
David Oistrakh ( von Matacic ) 9' 46" (1954)
Kyung Wha Chung 9' 48" (1975)
Lisa Batiashvili 9' 58" (2015)
Vilde Frang 10' 07" (2010)

Chung's interpretation is hard to beat, isn't it? Her self-confidence is breathtaking and she is on top form. Her version gains immeasurably from Previn's ability to react sympathetically in real-time to his soloist. Perhaps, his uncanny ability stems from years improvising ensemble jazz. The LSO, conductor, and Chung seems to coalesce into a single organism. Wonderful.
Lisa's playing is very poetic and her CD sets a high standard for the beauty of sound which her recording engineers have secured. Hilary Hahn plays the work 'con amore' and sets a very high bar with her live performance in Spain. Peter Frank Zimmermann benefits greatly from the quality of his orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, and some of the duet passages, particularly those involving woodwind, bring out that narrative quality which Prokofiev claimed he wanted in the andantino. Frang captures the dreamy, fairytale nature of the first movement but her orchestra struggles from time to time.
None of these recordings should be dismissed: after a faltering start to life, this concerto has inspired many violinists. I detect little sense of a performing tradition: these artists view the work very differently from each other but each one brings fresh insights that I for one, am happy to have received.

[Master Jacques]

Thank you edashtav, that's a helpful, generous comparative post.

[Lordgeous]

Agree about Hahn's live performance. In fact all her live YouTube clips seem unbelievably perfect.I wonder if she'll ever record the Prokofiev?

[edashtav]

Agree about Hahn's live performance. In fact all her live YouTube clips seem unbelievably perfect.I wonder if she'll ever record the Prokofiev?

I hope that she will record as she illumines aspects of the work in a manner that other interpreters do not. However, it's a crowded market and many potential customers are more than satisfied by the discs on their shelves as we see from this burgeoning thread.