Bartok - Violin Concerto 2 [Tetzlaff/ Gielen-The London Philharmonic] This is the very first Bartok disc to appear in my Blog, it's been going for 13 months, so this is long overdue, actually Bartok is a Composer that i still need to fully integrate into my psyche, i'm still coming to terms with a lot of his works, his Violin Concerto here is no exception, i've certainly listened to this work a number of times, and i find it hard to navigate, a lot of it just blends into one whole mush, and yet on this listen i found something begin to click, this has been the most rewarding and promising listen i've ever had of this work, maybe there's great hopes here.
Christian Tetzlaff is a German Violinist, born in 1966, this Concerto was recorded in 1990 when he was just 24, the front booklet picture is marvellous [by Frank Behrend], a background of deep dark chocolate browns, while the violin and face have wonderful autumn oranges, and they really stand out against such a dark background, the violin is strategically placed under his chin, nice and symmetrical, nice highlights on the violin itself, the glasses almost look see through, nice and startling with excellent shadows and highlights, even the cream / white lettering stands out wonderfully, nicely placed, and the logo is a very creative one, on the whole a very very nice booklet front cover, Virgin should be applauded for getting it right.
Well it's that first movement that really got me, from the very first time i heard this Concerto, the opening bars really made me sit up and listen, the harp strummings like a guitar, and those bass pizzicatos, a wonderful aural marriage, sounds never to be repeated again,
Here's Kyung Wha Chung playing the first movement on YouTube.
