|
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding recording, 5 Jun 2005
Tchaikovsky remains a popular composer - his melodic quality and tunefulness continue to find many a sympathetic listener, but there is nothing flippant about his work. Tchaikovsky wrote with passion: his music can express torment - both his personal confusion and the convulsions of his native Russia - but it ultimately projects an irrepressible optimism and confidence in the human spirit. Tchaikovsky presents a vulnerable aspect: the appeal of his music is often in its emotional fragility and tension, not simply its joyousness and optimism.His violin concerto in D was written in 1878, initially designed for a young violinist friend. Kyung-Wha Chung embraces the piece with a maturity and passion why belie her years. One of her earliest recordings, this remains an outstanding rendition of the concerto. Chung plays with such delicacy you recognise that this is no sanitised, over-rehearsed studio production but a recording which is characterised by its emotional immediacy. Backed by the LSO under Previn, this is an orchestra in its prime celebrating a soloist with outstanding potential. It's the central, slow movement which is the critical litmus to this concerto. Chung annunciates the emotions and vivacity of the work with a filigree delicacy which avoids both sentimentality and over elaboration. The choice of the Sibelius violin concerto is a good one. Sibelius was not without his darker moods; his later works are brooding and intense. Indeed, he simply retired and wrote nothing in the thirty years before his death in 1957. The violin concerto, however, was written in 1903, revised in 1905, at a time when Sibelius' drinking was causing concern and he was persuaded to move to the country to try to bring it under control. He would, in fact, suffer from throat cancer in 1908 and it was only then that his drinking (and smoking) stopped. So, the violin concerto presents a troubled man, still ebullient with his nationalistic fervour, but moving away from the romantic influences of Tchaikovsky towards a more cerebral, more brooding style. It is less melodic than the Russian composer's work, more emotionally confrontational and enigmatic. Chung embraces this work with outstanding skill. Her interpretation was and remains in the first rank, if not actually the finest on record. Again, an astonishing tour de force from a 22 year old new to the record business. Chung is one of the outstanding talents of the 20th century - more self-effacing and shy of publicity than many more famous names. But the quality of her playing, her emotional grasp, the delicacy of her phrasing are absolutely absorbing. A superb recording which will endure and endure.
|
~ Kyung Wha Chung
~ Kyung Wha Chung
~ Antonio Vivaldi
~ Kyung Wha Chung
~ Ludwig van Beethoven
