COMPOSERS: Bruch
LABELS: Decca Classic Sound
WORKS: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor; Scottish Fantasy
PERFORMER: Kyung-Wha Chung (violin) RPO/Rudolf Kempe
CATALOGUE NO: 448 597-2 ADD (1972)
Kyung-Wha Chung hurls herself almost physically into the heady Romantic sweep of Bruch’s First Concerto, conveying its vivid drama with eloquence and absolute technical authority. Her passionate approach, however, shortchanges the music’s tenderness and betrays her into some momentarily coarse tone whose roughness is exacerbated by an over-bright recording. The four-movement Scottish Fantasy, surprisingly the longer work of the two, evokes a Romantic image of Scotland in its frequent use of the harp and some genuine folk songs, all attractively and atmospherically laid out. In this slightly cut performance, as in the greater concerto, Kempe’s complete empathy with the German Romantic style is evident. George Hall
Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor; Scottish Fantasy
Kyung-Wha Chung hurls herself almost physically into the heady Romantic sweep of Bruch’s First Concerto, conveying its vivid drama with eloquence and absolute technical authority. Her passionate approach, however, shortchanges the music’s tenderness and betrays her into some momentarily coarse tone whose roughness is exacerbated by an over-bright recording. The four-movement Scottish Fantasy, surprisingly the longer work of the two, evokes a Romantic image of Scotland in its frequent use of the harp and some genuine folk songs, all attractively and atmospherically laid out.
Our rating
4
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:39 pm