This disc juxtaposes two significant Russian works for violin and orchestra, each written by a composer with a close relationship to Tchaikovsky, and each dedicated to the great violinist and pedagogue Leopold Auer. These two concertos are both formidable display pieces, designed to show off Auer’s transcendental technique. Ilya Gringolts, acclaimed as one of the great young violin virtuosos of today and lauded for his debut recording on Hyperion, dazzles in this repertoire, ably supported by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Ilan Volkov.
Arensky’s Violin Concerto is an original single-movement work, cast in contrasting sections. It is a model of the flowering of Russian romantic nationalism Tchaikovsky’s influence on his friend is pleasingly evident as is Arensky’s gift for melody and delightful contrasts of musical character. Taneyev’s much larger Suite de concert is a synthesis of different styles: it looks back to the Baroque suite with its different dance movements, the Märchen movement suggesting the high Romanticism of Schumann and the Theme and Variations a homage to Tchaikovsky. Particularly striking is the finale: an energetic and vivacious Tarantella, almost relentless in its onrushing rhythm. As the finale proceeds the dance becomes more frenetic, driving to a viscerally exciting conclusion that must have brought the house down in live performances.
DAILY TELEGRAPH CLASSICAL CD OF THE WEEK
'These two products of Russia's Silver Age go well together on disc … Ilya Gringolts is a fine advocate for both works, combining brilliance and idiomatic sensitivity, and enjoying fine support from Volkov and the BBC Scottish … In short, another superbly conceived and truthfully recorded addition to Hyperion's Romantic Violin Concerto series' (Gramophone)
'Gringolts' fluency, virtuosity and lyrical intensity have been much and rightly admired and this record I'm almost tempted to say is his best yet. He is expertly and sensitively partnered by Ilan Volkov and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra' (BBC Music Magazine)
'This latest disc of Arensky's Violin Concerto, superbly played by Ilya Gringolts and the BBC Scottish, sets the seal on a work that merits far more attention than it gets … In some ways it emulates Tchaikovsky's concerto in its dramatic thrust and the resourceful, Romantic flourish of its solo part … [Taneyev's Suite de Concert] As this fine performance shows, Taneyev's legendary thoroughness in his compositional procedures by no means stifled his creative imagination, and the suite fully complements's Arensky's concerto in its fund of ideas' (The Daily Telegraph)
Recording details: September 2008; City Halls, Candleriggs, Glasgow, United Kingdom; Produced by Andrew Keener; Engineered by Simon Eadon & Will Brown; Release date: February 2009;
Arensky: Violin Concerto In A Minor, Op. 54 - 1. Allegro
