Sibelius - Violin Concerto [Hou/Tung-Symphony Orchestra Of Radio And Television Slovenija]
A disc i've been wanting to revisit for ages, i played this disc in the early days of my Blog [6th January 2010], it was a resounding success, on this second listening, i'm not so overwhelmed, but i still enjoyed it immensely, plus Yi-Jia Susanne Hou is a sort of Heroine of mine, if you search out YouTube, there's some lovely videos of her, she's an inspirational Artist, i really wonder why she doesn't have a major name record deal.
Yi-Jia Susanne Hou is Chinese, she is now 33 years old, she made this recording in 2000, i picked this disc up in a second hand shop in London, i debated whether i should buy it, i'm now so glad i did, it really is a superb disc, by an underrated / unknown Artist, the visuals for this disc are excellent [photography by Ira Fox], not just the photographs, but the lettering too, the lettering for her name resembles Chinese writing.
Well i enjoyed all three of these movements equally, however i rarely talk about the final movement, so i thought it would be appropriate here, and i must admit on listening to this again, that the soloist is very much spotlit, makes her seem larger than life, rather like sitting on the front row, and she's just a few feet away, whereas the timpani or brass are many yards away, not necessarily giving a balanced perspective, but that's a small quibble, who doesn't want to be on the front row anyway?, the movement is very dance like, the rumbling strings at the beginning create a sort of staccato march, and of course the movement is full of violin fireworks, the first minute of the violin shows her credentials [0:06-1:09] with all sorts of virtuoso devices, and notice the rasping and wheezing brass afterwards [1:15-1:41], i'm sure that some mutes are added to give a tin can sound, the transition between the end of the soloists part, and the glorious forte tutti by the orchestra is breathtaking [3:09-3:32], as the violin slides out sight / sound [3:15],
Here's an excerpt of Yi-Jia Susanne Hou playing the first movement on YouTube.
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