Karol Szymanowski: Violin Concertos N. 1 Op. 35 and N. 2 Op. 61; Nocturne and Tarantella Op. 28 - Ilya Kaler, Antoni Wit, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra (2006)
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Ilya Kaler plays a violin made in 1998 by Joseph Curtin (more info at: http://www.josephcurtinstudios.com/index.htm), a contemporary maker.
Reviews
www.classicstoday.com
Artistic Quality: 9/10
Sound Quality: 9/10
These two violin concertos comprise some of the finest music for violin and orchestra written in the 20th century. They are very different: the First Concerto (1916) is one of the richest, most decadently gorgeous pieces in the string repertoire; the Second, composed a decade and a half later, has a rugged, earthy, but no less colorful and appealing character, the result of the composer's late interest in Polish folk music. Both have been recorded with reasonable frequency, even though they are hardly as popular or frequently performed as they deserve to be.
This new release should win them many friends, if only because it stands a good chance of remaining available longer than many previous issues. Ilya Kaler is an excellent violinist, and he handles the First concerto's ridiculously high tessitura with complete confidence, secure intonation, and a consistently voluptuous tone. Antoni Wit follows him every step of the way. Tempos, both here and in the Second concerto, are a bit slower then Danczowska's reference edition on CD Accord, but the extra time allows both soloist and conductor to pay particular attention to details of harmony and orchestral color. Certainly the performance never drags or degenerates into a sort of perpetual, dreamy reverie, as sometimes happens in this evocative work.
Kaler adopts an aptly vigorous, gutsy approach to the rhythmically charged Second concerto, taking care to highlight its fertile melodic invention and comparatively extravert character. There's an odd rule in classical music that anything called "No. 2" must be considered less significant than a "No. 1", but the fact is that many listeners may find this piece easier to grasp on a first listen owing to its less rhapsodic, "stream of consciousness" musical language.
The early, impressionistic Nocturne and Tarantella makes an extremely attractive encore, and the sonics, as usual from this source, are very good. I can very easily recommend this disc as a first choice, especially if you find it difficult (or too expensive) to snag the Danczowska/Kord. The performances are distinctive enough in any case to warrant the attention of anyone who cares about this composer. [5/3/2007]
--David Hurwitz
www.musicweb-international.com
On the evidence of this disc Kaler is one of the most distinguished of Szymanowski players. His technique is cast iron, his tonal purity remains intact even in the most vertiginous demands made upon it, and he has a sure and cogent view of the manifold architectural difficulties facing the intrepid interpreter. The concertos make very different – but equally complex – demands on the player as they do indeed of the conductor. Fortunately Kaler has Antoni Wit and the Warsaw Philharmonic alongside. Together a compelling case is made for the concertos, one that easily surmounts questions of price bracket. This is first and foremost a formidably well-played and interpreted brace of performances. The fact that it comes at Naxos’s price makes it only that much more desirable.
In the First Concerto we can note straight away his well focused but yet still silken tone. He avoids tonal exaggeration and disparities between the G and the upper strings in those treacherous high wire acts that Szymanowski calls for. His view is very slightly slower than some – Danczowska/Kord most obviously – but never sounds remotely drawn out. In fact articulation is one of the best features of the recording. So too is the recorded balance, where flute and clarinet are prominent without being unnaturally spotlit. The powerful orchestral argument – the wind chatter, the brass fanfares, the horn calls, the percussive drama – are all assuredly potent in the mixing brew.
Similar excellence attends to the Second Concerto. Tension is powerfully screwed up through sheerly musical means. The blistering bowing demands are met with accomplishment whilst orchestrally the defiant blasts are corralled by Wit with surety. The horns, once again, perform heroically but there’s also lissom and elegant playing to balance the more boisterous passages. In a performance as good as this one the natural heroism and drama of the writing emerges in waves.
There’s an interesting novelty in the shape of the Fitelberg orchestration of the familiar Nocturne and Tarantella. Fitelberg was of course a great champion of the composer but his work borders at points on the generic and even at one or two points worryingly close to a kind of proto-Western music.
That’s a small matter. This release now jumps to the head of the front-runner stakes alongside the Danczowska performances. Older traversals will obviously include Uminska and Oistrakh in No.1, and Wilkomirska in both concertos. But for those who want excellent sound, intelligently argued performances and instrumental finesse then this is a handsome bargain – at whatever price bracket.
Jonathan Woolf
5% Recovery
Included: cover
Ilya Kaler plays a violin made in 1998 by Joseph Curtin (more info at: http://www.josephcurtinstudios.com/index.htm), a contemporary maker.
Reviews
www.classicstoday.com
Artistic Quality: 9/10
Sound Quality: 9/10
These two violin concertos comprise some of the finest music for violin and orchestra written in the 20th century. They are very different: the First Concerto (1916) is one of the richest, most decadently gorgeous pieces in the string repertoire; the Second, composed a decade and a half later, has a rugged, earthy, but no less colorful and appealing character, the result of the composer's late interest in Polish folk music. Both have been recorded with reasonable frequency, even though they are hardly as popular or frequently performed as they deserve to be.
This new release should win them many friends, if only because it stands a good chance of remaining available longer than many previous issues. Ilya Kaler is an excellent violinist, and he handles the First concerto's ridiculously high tessitura with complete confidence, secure intonation, and a consistently voluptuous tone. Antoni Wit follows him every step of the way. Tempos, both here and in the Second concerto, are a bit slower then Danczowska's reference edition on CD Accord, but the extra time allows both soloist and conductor to pay particular attention to details of harmony and orchestral color. Certainly the performance never drags or degenerates into a sort of perpetual, dreamy reverie, as sometimes happens in this evocative work.
Kaler adopts an aptly vigorous, gutsy approach to the rhythmically charged Second concerto, taking care to highlight its fertile melodic invention and comparatively extravert character. There's an odd rule in classical music that anything called "No. 2" must be considered less significant than a "No. 1", but the fact is that many listeners may find this piece easier to grasp on a first listen owing to its less rhapsodic, "stream of consciousness" musical language.
The early, impressionistic Nocturne and Tarantella makes an extremely attractive encore, and the sonics, as usual from this source, are very good. I can very easily recommend this disc as a first choice, especially if you find it difficult (or too expensive) to snag the Danczowska/Kord. The performances are distinctive enough in any case to warrant the attention of anyone who cares about this composer. [5/3/2007]
--David Hurwitz
www.musicweb-international.com
On the evidence of this disc Kaler is one of the most distinguished of Szymanowski players. His technique is cast iron, his tonal purity remains intact even in the most vertiginous demands made upon it, and he has a sure and cogent view of the manifold architectural difficulties facing the intrepid interpreter. The concertos make very different – but equally complex – demands on the player as they do indeed of the conductor. Fortunately Kaler has Antoni Wit and the Warsaw Philharmonic alongside. Together a compelling case is made for the concertos, one that easily surmounts questions of price bracket. This is first and foremost a formidably well-played and interpreted brace of performances. The fact that it comes at Naxos’s price makes it only that much more desirable.
In the First Concerto we can note straight away his well focused but yet still silken tone. He avoids tonal exaggeration and disparities between the G and the upper strings in those treacherous high wire acts that Szymanowski calls for. His view is very slightly slower than some – Danczowska/Kord most obviously – but never sounds remotely drawn out. In fact articulation is one of the best features of the recording. So too is the recorded balance, where flute and clarinet are prominent without being unnaturally spotlit. The powerful orchestral argument – the wind chatter, the brass fanfares, the horn calls, the percussive drama – are all assuredly potent in the mixing brew.
Similar excellence attends to the Second Concerto. Tension is powerfully screwed up through sheerly musical means. The blistering bowing demands are met with accomplishment whilst orchestrally the defiant blasts are corralled by Wit with surety. The horns, once again, perform heroically but there’s also lissom and elegant playing to balance the more boisterous passages. In a performance as good as this one the natural heroism and drama of the writing emerges in waves.
There’s an interesting novelty in the shape of the Fitelberg orchestration of the familiar Nocturne and Tarantella. Fitelberg was of course a great champion of the composer but his work borders at points on the generic and even at one or two points worryingly close to a kind of proto-Western music.
That’s a small matter. This release now jumps to the head of the front-runner stakes alongside the Danczowska performances. Older traversals will obviously include Uminska and Oistrakh in No.1, and Wilkomirska in both concertos. But for those who want excellent sound, intelligently argued performances and instrumental finesse then this is a handsome bargain – at whatever price bracket.
Jonathan Woolf
2 comments:
http://rapidshare.com/files/197666764/SVNTKWWPO.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/197675360/SVNTKWWPO.part2.rar
Thanks for yet another interesting release.
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