Dvorak - Violin Concerto [Vengerov/ Masur-New York Philharmonic]Maxim Vengerov the Russian, born in 1974, it seems that he's travelled the world and done everything, some consider him the worlds greatest Violinist, my impression of him is that he can be overconfident and showy at times, sometimes overdoing effects and playing outrageously, also his body mannerisms seem like a puppet on strings, bringing attention to himself instead of the music, in saying all of that, there's no denying he has talent, but he seems an 'actor' too!, and that smug Stan Laurel smile when he plays!, ha ha.
The Dvorak Concerto is very Slavic, it has those stamping dance rhythms about it, however the central Adagio is pure Romantic, the Adagio starts off very gentle, Vengerov plays very restrained, it's a sweet gentle melody, full of nostalgia, with very sparse orchestra [0:00-1:18], the violin becomes more impassioned [1:19-2:36], with a nice swell in the orchestra at the end, lots of sweet solo playing, with some nice trills and colouring [5:44-6:00], a little later trumpets stab away [6:25-6:34], but the stabs become muted as the woodwind softly play the melody [6:34-6:56], the violin starts to sing some of its playful music [6:56-7:20], but then turns to romantic legato [7:20-7:47] with a swell of love, the whole movement is beautiful, well judged by Dvorak, and giving the violin it's chance to really caress our heartstrings.
Here's a very short excerpt on YouTube, of vengerov playing the opening movement of the Concerto.
Vengerov = Biography.
