Well from one Kremer disc from yesterday, to another Kremer disc today, it's good to hear him again, this is the twelfth time that Sibelius's Violin Concerto gets into my Blog, but the first time for this disc, in fact this is the first time i've played this disc, yet another Ebay purchase, and quite a rare disc, it's coupled with the Schumann Concerto, a work that hasn't really taken to the core repertoire, but it's good to have listened to this today, a work which certainly needs more listening to get into.
Like i said yesterday, Gidon Kremer is Latvian, he's now 65, he made this recording in 1983, the front cover photograph is a good one, a good duo portrait, in jackets and sweaters, nicely lighted, nice contour shades on the faces.
It was the first movement which moved me the most, it's recorded in a somewhat reverberant acoustic, but everything seems clear and precise, Kremer paces the opening nicely, when the orchestra come in forte it's a great moment [5:34-6:30], especially the two powerful brass explosions [5:48 & 6:19], nice and rasping for the second one, the bassoon at the end of the first cadenza is a nice touch by Sibelius [9:34-9:50], the way it bridges things nicely, three quartets the way through there's a strong tutti from the orchestra [11:20-12:15], again lots of rasping brass, and right after there's a sad solo oboe [12:16-12:35], it's just the perfect denouement after the brass forte, Kremer plays some lovely high treble notes, ending on a nice trill [13:48-14:25], the closing moments are thrilling, especially from the orchestra [15:30-15:38] in the background.
Here's SoYoung Yoon playing the Sibelius Violin Concerto on YouTube.
