Beethoven and Beyond Beethoven: Violin Concerto; plus works by Kreisler, Saint-Saëns, Spohr, Wieniawski and Ysaÿe María Dueñas (violin); Vienna Symphony Orchestra/Manfred Honeck DG 486 3512 97:45 mins (2 discs)
Beethoven’s Violin Concerto is not without its problems. After a chaotic, barely rehearsed premiere in 1806, it didn’t really surface until 1844 when the 12-year-old Joseph Joachim performed it in London with Mendelssohn conducting to enormous acclaim. From then on it became a touchstone for composers and performers where violin concertos were concerned. Among the problems, and hereby hangs the subtitle of the present issue, Beyond Beethoven, is the absence of cadenzas by Beethoven for the violin version.
Over the years composers and performers have attempted with varying success to fill the gap. María Dueñas, as well as supplying her own substantial cadenzas, gathers five for the first movement by some distinguished composers, pairing each with one of their shorter pieces for violin and orchestra. Of the five, Saint-Saëns’s is the most fascinating for its ingenious handling of motifs from the first movement.
Dueñas’s performance favours the Concerto’s abundant lyrical qualities. In the magical Larghetto she combines unaffected simplicity with rich sentiment while her account of the ‘Rondo’ is certainly joyous, but thoughtful rather than rollicking. Less convincingly, she opts for a decidedly measured tempo in the first movement which lasts just short of 28 minutes. While her playing is always compelling, the final impression is more of a sequence of exquisite miniatures than a presentation of Beethoven’s full symphonic canvas.
Vividly recorded, Manfred Honeck and the Vienna Symphony provide alert, well balanced accompaniments.
Jan Smaczny
