Sibelius
Violin Concerto; Serenades; Humoresques etc
James Ehnes (violin); Bergen Philharmonic/Edward Gardner
Chandos CHSA 5267 79:17 mins
Clip: Sibelius - Violin Concerto, Op. 47. II. Adagio di molto (James Ehnes/Chandos)
Sibelius’s ultra-virtuosic Violin Concerto demands stellar qualities from its soloist. James Ehnes has them all, and then some – vast technical firepower, full-on richness of tone without technicolor gloss, phenomenal tuning and a likeable artistry that’s direct, unpretentious and instantly responsive to every musical situation.
With all this on offer, it’s no surprise that the Concerto’s interplay of spectacular brilliance and brooding introspection comes across so well. Following on from the first movement’s big solo cadenza, the way Ehnes captures the surge of the main theme’s reprise is memorable. In the Adagio slow movement he is warmly expressive without any sense of excess. And the Finale’s near-outrageous difficulties are handled with dazzling precision.
This release is then raised from very fine to exceptional by its rather larger second half – a survey of Sibelius’s later output of short works for violin and small orchestra. Some are almost as technically demanding as the Concerto: the third and last number of the Suite, Op. 117 is a full-tilt moto perpetuo, delivered by Ehnes at a scintillating pace.
In the two sets of Humoresques and the Two Serenades especially, Sibelius found a way of transferring his theatre music’s matchless command of touch and atmosphere to this different genre. This is where the accompaniments by the Bergen Philharmonic and Edward Gardner, never less than excellent in the Concerto, now truly come into their own. Spellbinding sounds are conjured at every point, and the recorded balance beautifully catches the ensemble’s interplay with Ehnes’s solo violin. Malcolm Hayes