Dependent Arising Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No. 1; Earl Maneein: Dependent Arising – Violin Concerto Rachel Barton Pine (violin); Royal Scottish National Orchestra/Tito Muñoz Çedille CDR 90000 223 67:39 mins
Rachel Barton Pine delivers an absolutely superb account of Shostakovich’s First Violin Concerto. Technically her playing is beyond reproach, and she has all the necessary reserves of energy to sustain and enhance the urgency of the musical argument to the very end of a hugely demanding work. More crucially, she demonstrates complete empathy with the different states of mind projected in each of the Concerto’s four movements. Her glassy sound in the violin’s upper registers perfectly conveys the chilling sense of foreboding that underpins the opening Nocturne. She then takes the bull by the horns, presenting a violent and demonic interpretation of the ensuing Scherzo. A combination of tenderness and defiance characterising her shaping of the long melodic lines in the Passacaglia is followed by a brilliantly choreographed Cadenza. This builds up to a fever pitch of intensity before launching us into the fireworks and frenzy of the concluding Burlesque.
For the most part, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra under Tito Muñoz provides distinguished support for Barton Pine, though ensemble in one or two passages in the Scherzo is a little awry. It’s a pity, however, that the recording places the violin a bit too far forward in relation to the orchestra, for this balance becomes a little wearing after a time. On the other hand, a closely miked solo part seems integral to Earl Maneein’s Dependent Arising, a dramatically powerful three-movement concerto whose musical idiom draws upon an eclectic mixture of influences that range from heavy metal to some allusions to Shostakovich.
Erik Levi
