Bruch - Violin Concerto 1 [Udagawa/Mackerras-London Symphony Orchestra] 

Bruch's Violin Concerto is a real regular in my Blog, though this is the first time i've played this actual disc, Udagawa is not exactly teeming with discs to buy, but i don't know why she hasn't made more discs, it's good to get yet another angle on this work from two Artists, and it's a good solid performance, the Bruch has a nice searing intensity to it, it's a work that never outstays its welcome, i never get bored of it, even if i do listen to it fairly often.

Hideko Udagawa is Japanese, though she now makes her home in England, she made this disc in 1989, the front cover [photo by Hanya Chlala] shows Udagawa seated with her gown spread out, a nice photo.

I was in heaven listening to the central Adagio, there's a real intensity of passion there, slowly building up and up, quite a straight reading at first, but Udagawa breathes more and more drama into it, and towards the end there's a passage of full blown passion [5:17-5:46], and then right at the end there's a meek and simple rendering of the main tune [6:57-7:55], which rises for a while, but ends subdued into pathos, the acoustic has a slight tendency to sound a little far away.

Here's Joshua Bell playing the middle slow movement on YouTube.

Bruch - Violin Concerto 1 [Chung/Tennstedt-London Philharmonic Orchestra] 

Only a couple of days ago this Concerto appeared in my Blog with Akiko Suwanai as the Soloist [4th December 2012], and here it is again!, the main tune in the third movement still keeps going round in my head!, it's so good to listen to this again, i don't get bored of it, the trick is to hear something new every time, to notice something that you didn't hear before, or learn something more about the history of the work, the key signature, or whatever, the music is the same, but your head and heart evolve, plus Kyung-Wha Chung is such an excellent Soloist to boot, and this work / disc was also an entry that kicked off my Blog this year [1st January 2012].

Kyung_Wha Chung is South Korean, she is now 64, she recorded this work in 1990, the front cover image [photo by Cindy Palmano] is an excellent portrait, with Chung holding her violin, lovely colours of orange and brown, black background which makes the subject stand out even stronger, i like the highlights on the violin.

Well even though i had the finale going round my head, it was the slow middle movement that i was so enraptured in this time, i guess it's my favourite movement of the three, it's so heavenly, how could a Composer who wrote this not duplicate excellent ideas throughout his works?, the Adagio starts right out of the ending of the first movement, the Concerto is in G Minor, and there's this sense of bittersweet sorrow throughout, the main theme of the Adagio is just irresistible, played very delicately by the solo violin at the start, but unbelievably the ideas get even better!, the violin plays a counter melody to the main one [0:55-1:39], and it's just heartbreaking, how can anyone not fall in love with this Concerto?, the orchestra aren't mere bystanders, and there's moments of tenderness from them too [4:25-4:57], the movement gets into a nice little complexity, and violin and orchestra intertwine in a lovely way, which results in the orchestra pulling out all the stops in a thrilling forte [5:35-6:35], towards the end there's a sweet moment of true tenderness as Chung plays delectably [7:54+], of course there's moments of violin passion too, and Chung takes this theme right into the treble stratosphere [8:16-8:33], it's a great coda from a great central movement, one of the very best in the violin repertoire.

Here's Kyung-Wha Chung playing the breathtaking Adagio middle movement on YouTube.

Bruch - Violin Concerto 1 [Suwanai/Marriner-Academy Of Saint Martin In The Fields] 

I had the main tune of this Concerto going round in my head ages after it finished, i can't quite decide if it's this Concerto, or the Sibelius, or Lalo's Symphonie Espagnole that i find the very best Violin Concerto of all, but this certainly wins for the sheer passion and tender pathos, and it was inspired to give us the other Bruch masterpiece as its companion, the underrated Scottish Fantasy.

Akiko Suwanai is Japanese, i can't believe she's now 40 years old, of course in this booklet photograph of 1996 when she recorded this work, she was only 24, but these Asians sure don't age like the rest of us, and the booklet photo [by Christian Steiner] is a nice tender portrait, she's very slim with waist length black hair, and an angelic face.

The whole of this Concerto was quite a revelation, Beethoven takes roughly 45 minutes to spin his Violin Concerto, Bruch takes almost half that [24 minutes here], and yet in my mind spins something much more substantial, the first movement sounded so sure and tremendous, and the second movement is so gut wrenching, but it was the third movement which really got to me, it's a sort of combination of the first two movements, it is played Allegro like the first movement, but episodes of pure tender power keep coming in, very reminiscent of the second movement, Suwanai plays with lovely virtuosity, and the the fortes by the orchestra are tremendous [1:12-1:37], the eruption of the first strong surge of pathos [2:10-2:27] is so gut wrenching, and Suwanai echoes that tune [2:27-2:52], but sounds in lots of ways like a viola, and the second pathos eruption is just as heart tugging [4:38-4:49], the 'finale' of sorts is a nice virtuoso culmination to the whole thing, a truly great Violin Concerto, Bruch really knows how to tug at your heartstrings, the whole movement is a real roller coaster ride.

Here's Suwanai playing the third movement on YouTube.

Bruch - Scottish Fantasy [Midori/Mehta-Israel Philharmonic Orchestra] 

What an underestimated work, Bruch's First Violin Concerto is rightly hailed as a central part of the Violin Concerto repertoire, but this work languishes in its shadow, to me it's an endearing work, it has some of the most touching theme's and tunes that make great Violin Concertos, it was originally worked as a Violin Concerto proper, it certainly works as a Fantasy, unlike say Lalo's Symphonie Espagnole, which is played as four separate movements, this Fantasy is glued together in certain movements, so it ends up with only three separate movements, and hey! there's your Violin Concerto!. 

Midori is Japanese, i can't believe she's only 40, she now actually looks older, she recorded this disc in 1993 when she was 22, the front cover photo is by Carol Friedman, a black & white double portrait, with nice sharp detail, the lettering is well laid out, in light blue and white, i really like this front booklet.

What a lovely experience, this work has the ability to move me to tears, it's the first and third movements that are real treasures, so much passion and feeling, it's the third movement that i found so beautiful today, it follows straight on from the second, and it's the violin that plays such an endearing tune [0:00-0:55], and then a more complex variation of the opening tune [1:09-1:58], i just love the way that Bruch just throws open the floodgates of passion in the orchestra [2:22-2:34], such a strong surge, and followed up by Midori playing her heart out [2:34-3:26], i love the delicate but strong solo work later [3:37-4:02], just so beautiful.

Here's Liviu Prunaru playing the third movement Andante on YouTube, the movement actually starts 38 seconds in.

Bruch - Violin Concerto 1 [Zukerman/Mehta-London Philharmonic Orchestra] 

You know, i get the feeling i play this Concerto every other week [and never get bored with it], in reality i have such a large cycle of discs being played, that i get to listen to this work every other month!, and this certain disc was played two years ago! [1st August 2010], but it was so good to listen to this again today. 

Pinchas Zukerman is Israeli, but now lives in Canada i believe, he is now 64 years old, he made this recording in 1992, the booklet is all oranges and browns [photo by Richard Haughton], really nice, it's clever that the photographer probably used a step ladder to shoot down at his subjects, a nice angle, and a wonderfully sharp picture to boot.

I very much enjoyed all of these movements equally, Bruch has a consistent quality to this Violin Concerto, i suppose if i had to plump for one movement above the others, it would be the slow middle movement, linked to the ending of the first movement, it has an endearing tune presented by the violin, full of pathos, but this broadens out into a deeper passion [0:58-1:41], later Zukerman brings the full force of the violin into play [. 

Here's Pinchas Zukerman and Zubin Mehta playing the slow movement on YouTube, though it's not the same performance as on this disc.

Bruch - Violin Concerto 1 [Chung/Tennstedt-London Philharmonic Orchestra]

This was a wonderful experience, walking on the way to Church, it was wet, but the air was fresh, and this performance blew me away, so intense, Bruch's Concerto is simple, and yet it has a profound lyrical depth, add to this the artistry of Kyung-Wha Chung, and you have a real winner.

Kyung-Wha Chung is South Korean, she's now 63 years old, and it's good to know that she's back playing again, after a 5 year hiatus after a finger injury, she recorded this work in 1990, the booklet front cover is excellent [by Cindy Palmano], showing Chung with her violin in hand, and with a dark background which highlights her being, it's a nice disc visually.

All of the movements were a revelation, usually it's the middle slow Adagio that i just can't resist, but on this hearing i just loved those outer movements, there's real power in the Finale, but it was in the opening Vorspiel first movement that i was mesmerised, unlike say Brahms and Beethoven, Bruch made all the movements of his Concerto roughly equal length, the opening starts innocent enough, but soon turns into an Allegro of power [1:14+], and Chung's opening phrases are well done [1:28-2:25], creating real intensity, but Bruch has a way of bringing out beauty out of power, and there's tender and touching moments right after [2:37+], culminating in passages of real emotion and spirituality [3:23-4:02], further along the orchestra have a tutti of forte power [5:28+], which gains in power and strength towards the end [6:00-6:40], this was the best bit of the whole Concerto for me, i guess there's a sort of coda at the end, where the whole thing is slowed down ready for the gorgeous slow movement [7:51+], violins bowing high in the treble, a nice culmination of everything, a masterpiece of a Concerto, and no wonder Bruch is sort of stuck with being a one hit wonder sort of Composer [but don't forget his Scottish Fantasy].

Here's Kyung-Wha Chung playing the first movement on YouTube with Andre Previn.

Bruch - Violin Concerto 1 [Jansen/Chailly-Gewandhausorchester]

This is the first time in playing this disc, i bought this somewhat on the strength of listening to the Bruch Viola Romance on YouTube [starts at 3:20], a beautiful piece, reminiscent of his Scottish Fantasy, but Bruch's Violin Concerto is an evergreen, everytime i listen to it i'm thrilled, and my heart melts in the slow movement, it's the usual coupling of these two Concertos, but made all the more desirable by the Viola piece. 

Janine Jansen is 33, born in the Netherlands, she has recorded the major violin repertoire, the visuals for this are quite nice, showing Jansen on the front cover, holding what actually could be a viola, she made this recording in 2006, which actually were live recordings, but i never knew until i had finished listening.

Again it's that breathtaking central movement that has my heart in a flutter, it has a gorgeous tune, and it's the violin that starts us straight into that tune, and the violin weaves a magical variation of the tune [0:53-1:30], Jansen sends us into rapturous delights with some of her beautiful playing at times [3:16+ & 3:28+], especially when she travels up into treble heaven, there's a sheer innocence about the music, and there's delicate passages of breathtaking beauty [4:31-5:08], as well as build ups to more impassioned and unbuttoned lyricism [5:08-5:31], and it's in the red blooded forte passages you feel a sense of true power [5:31-6:02], right at the end, there's a slowing and dropping to a whisper, and out of the quiet comes something so innocent [7:19-8:21], and in there there's this climatic singing of pure sweetness [7:35-8:01], going right up into treble heaven, what a way to end a movement!.

Here's Janine Jansen playing the second movement on YouTube.