Beethoven • Stravinsky Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D, Op. 61; Stravinsky: Violin Concerto in D, Op. 8 Vilde Frang (violin); Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen/Pekka Kuusisto Warner Classics 9029667740 63:47 mins
This may appear an unlikely coupling, until one considers these concertos’ shared propensity for dialogue and lively interaction, not just between soloist and orchestra, but (especially in the case of the Stravinsky) within the orchestra’s ranks. Through being performed by Vilde Frang on a chamber scale with the hugely gifted members of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen under fellow violinist Pekka Kuusisto, both scores emerge with supreme freshness and a compelling sense of vitality.
Frang’s exquisite tonal subtlety and enhanced range of dynamics allows her to weave in and out of Beethoven’s carefully graded orchestral textures, with a profound sense of listening and responding to everything that is going on around her. As a result, and despite the relatively modest instrumental forces, the music’s symphonic sweep is actually enhanced. Rarely has the moment when the slow movement’s radiant third theme arrives felt so poignant – as if this is the moment we’ve all been waiting for. Additionally, Frang plays (exquisitely) her transcriptions of the cadenzas Beethoven composed for the later piano version of the concerto, complete with timpani.
If anything, the Stravinsky is finer still. Rarely have the outer movements sounded so joyfully balletic, as though a series of comic characters are being paraded before us at lightning speed. Frang’s (and the orchestra’s) split-second timing and microfine responses bring the score’s dazzling orchestration brimming to life, and when the music unexpectedly turns serious in Aria II (the third movement), they convey a palpable sense of pain and anxiety. This is arguably Frang’s finest disc since her sensational Sibelius/Prokofiev debut.
Julian Haylock
