Search - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Jean Sibelius, Klaus Tennstedt :: Mozart: Symphonies Nos. 32 & 1; Sibelius: Violin Concerto, Op. 47

Whatever Yaron does is good by me

DoubleViolin | Boston | 12/11/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Yuval Yaron, who is described enen by close friends as unstable, is one of the most spectacular violinists you will ever hear. If you can ever get ahold of his Sonatas and Partitas (had one, gave it to a student and never saw it again. Sigh...) is full of creative invention. And oh yeah, he only re-recorded one movement: the A minor fugue and that only because the recording engineer thought he had messed something up. This guy defies the imagination. A true "firebrand" whose surly personality has won him no friends and a lot of enemies. Tragic, because he is one of the all time greats. Haven't heard the recording, so can't comment, but from what the other reviewer said (and having played Mozart's juvenile first symphony myself) I would probably agree with him. One interesting note, though, about Mozart's First: the theme from the first movement, a very simple one, shows up later in guess what? Drumroll please: it is the theme to the last movement of the "Jupiter" symphony. It is worth a hearing just for that."

Excellent

Amadeus 888 | London | 01/14/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Whatever Klaus Tennstedt touched turned to gold. This CD is no exception. The performance of the Sibelius Violin Concerto with Yuval Yaron is excellent, e-x-c-e-l-l-e-n-t! One of the best I've ever heard.



I whole-heartedly recommend it."

Nondescript Early Mozart; Incendiary Sibelius

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 09/14/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is yet another of Profil's odd programs taken from the archives of the Bavarian Radio Symphony, and although the far-from-helpful booklet notes don't tell us much about the provenance of these performances, one presumes they are from live broadcast performances of the orchestra; the Mozart was recorded in 1977, the Sibelius in 1978. The two Mozart symphonies are almost never heard, largely because they are early (No. 1 is from Mozart, age eight, and No. 32 is from 1779, and both are in the three-movement form inherited from the operatic overture of the preceding period) and they are not particularly memorable, although there are some characteristic Mozartean touches, even in the early piece. Still, I frankly don't care if I ever hear them again. Further, the performances seem a bit lackluster to me, even a little rough around the edges.



By far the most interesting thing here is the Sibelius Violin Concerto with Yuval Yaron as soloist. Yaron, currently on the faculty at the University of California at Santa Barbara (a fact of which the booklet writer seems unaware), has longstanding ties to the University of Indiana where he was a student of Joseph Gingold and where he was a professor until fairly recently. He won the Sibelius Competition in Finland a couple of years before this recording. His style is very much that of the firebrand, and that fits the Sibelius Concerto perfectly. I've always felt that this concerto required a heart-on-the-sleeve performance and that's what we get here. (My own favorite live performance of this concerto was on in the 1980s by Pinchas Zukerman. There are superb recordings by Heifetz -- with whom Yaron studied for a time, -- Ginette Neveu and Kyung Wha Chung. There is a recording of BOTH versions of the concerto played by Leonidas Kavakos.) Yaron plays deep in the strings, especially in the final movement. He makes a real statement in the middle movement, a real plus since some performers seem to be just putting in time in this movement. This is, I believe, a live performance and there are a few - very few - intonation problems; they do not interfere with the overall impression at all and they are evidence that this violinist is caught up in the adrenalin rush of the moment, I believe. Tennstedt and the BRSO are with him every step of the way. The sound of the lower strings and winds, so important in this score, is deep and rich. An exciting performance.



So, for the Sibelius this is a recommendation. The fillers (and that's all I can consider the Mozart symphonies) are negligible. And consequently one is probably not getting full value for money. Indeed, the total timing of the CD, including the Mozart works, is only 48:13.



Recommended only for those who collect the Sibelius Concerto and who are willing to pay full-price for a short timing.



Scott Morrison"