Unique style and soul leaping out of the notes
Scott68 | Columbus, Ohio United States | 03/20/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Kyung Wha Chung is my favorite living violinist, she studied at Juiliard with Galamian and then later with the incredible Szigetti. Ever since I heard her play Beethoven and Bruch I became completely spellbound by her great sence of timing and tempo, sence of phrasing, and wonderful bow technique. Her staccato is incredibly articulate and her technique overall is completely effortless, it is clear to me that there is no sence of resistance between what she wants to do with the music and what she plays. In addition, she plays with incredible warmth and intensity and her recordings are of the highest quality available. I simply get every CD I can find by her.If you are a serious musician, you already know how phenominal a talent Prokofiev is. When you read his music, the style and soul just comes leaping out of the notes. The man had his own style and sound, while making so many incredible works with melodies so pure you can not help but to love them. The other thing about him that sticks out in my mind was the mention in the Richter book about how Prokofiev disgusted some teachers and won over others when he was at the conservatory and that gave him great pleasure to divide the opinions of his superiors. The repression of his music and talent by the Soviet government was brought on by his ability to create new sounds incorporating dissonances that work. This new sound must have been a musical revolution at the time because the government banned his music to be played until Richter came along and made it popular. You really have to respect someone who has their own sound and is able to capture you with a strong melody as well as have the confidence to stand out and do something differently. I can honestly say I have never heard anything like Prokofiev before or since, his talent is completely genius and after listening to his piano works I decided that he is no less brilliant than even the other Russian titan, Rachmaninoff.Of course I am terribly fond of both concertos here written by Prokofiev. I have many recordings of these concertos including Heifetz, Milstein, Mintz to name a few but this is the CD I play when I want to hear these great concertos. I also like to I pull out the old Oistrakh recordings to compare these performances to but this CD has better recording quality. For the Stravinsky I would suggest this and Hilary Hahn's recording to contrast each other. If you like the Prokofiev Concerto 1 then you might consider getting the DVD with Repin.I enjoy this CD immensely and my collection simply would not be complete without it."
Stravinsky's Violin Concerto the prize of this CD, among the
Discophage | France | 08/09/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"These versions of Prokofiev's Violin Concertos, recorded in 1975, were important ones in the late LP era, when there wasn't so much competition: Oistrakh, Milstein, Stern and a few lesser names. I enjoyed Chung's back then. Many more have been recorded since.
Unfortunately, I came back to Chung's immediately after hearing the one André Previn recorded twenty years later, with the same orchestra and Gil Shaham this time (Prokofiev: Violin Concertos 1 & 2; Sonata for Solo Violin). Chung's flaws jump immediately to the ear: right at her entry in the first Concerto (a simple, upward A-D interval), she adds a kind of sob, presumably for "expressive" reasons. And it is incredibly vulgar. Shaham plays it straight, very simply - and that's what Prokofiev needs. In his two Concertos he has these long, simple and radiantly lyrical melodies; the temptation must be to fuss over them, to charge them with meaning and feeling, in order to wring out every drop of lyricism they contain - rather than to play them as they are written: simply, and with a radiant lyricism. And that's the trap into which Chung eagerly falls in the first movement of the first Concerto. Her phrasings are full of these little "expressive" sobs, portamentos and what not. She sounds like a wailing singer. She also invests the more scherzando passages of this first movement (3:05) with a sense of whimsicality and a braggadocio swagger: if you are well-disposed, you may say that it is an original and imaginative approach, and if you are not, that again she is fussing with the phrases (in fact I think both are true). Add to that that her violin tone is husky rather than luminous (which is fine in the second movement Scherzo but somewhat detrimental in these long and radiantly lyrical melodies), and her intonation (partly because of these expressive gimmicks) at times a hair approximate. Fortunately, in the first Concerto, her Scherzo and Finale are beyond reproach, and especially in the latter, the much-desirable simplicity of delivery is there.
The second Concerto starts again with another one of these long, lyrical melodies, played this time by the violin alone, and the temptation must be big to milk it and brood over it, which is what about every fiddler after Heifetz has done (Heifetz Plays Strauss (Violin Sonata op. 18), Sibelius (Violin Concerto), Prokofiev (Violin Concerto 2)). But then start the problems: the transitions to the more dynamic and scherzando passages (the first one is at 1:10 with Chung) become more abrupt, less organic than when the opening motive is taken at a faster tempo (as Heifetz does). Furthermore, the movement sounds as if made up of small sections pasted one after the other, slow, fast, slow, fast. Finally, slowing down too much with the return of the lyrical theme, the violinist has to apply unprescribed accelerations to retain the character of the music when Prokofiev's goes from quarter- or eighth-notes to sixteenth notes, such as (in Chung's reading) at 2:58 or 4:20; in my experience this is a sure sign that there is something the musician didn't get in the movement's architecture and tempo relationship.
Truth is, this has become, after Heifetz, the standard reading of that movement, although, by magnifying the contrasts of tempo, Chung sounds less organic than Oistrakh (Prokofiev: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2; Violin Sonata No. 2) despite similar timings. But within that approach, she plays with the required blend of lyricism and dash. She also offers a superb slow movement of great emotional intensity, and a fine finale, though without quite the technical fluency of Shaham twenty years later and with a tone more raucous than his - which is not out of situation here. I'm not particularly favorably biased toward André Previn, but he offers here great support, with all the subtle filigree of Prokofiev's orchestration clearly highlighted. The sonics have aged well, though they are not as present as with Shaham.
But the real prize of this CD is Stravinsky's Violin Concerto, recorded by the same team in 1972 (and originally issued with Walton's violin concerto, now on Concerto Violin (2)). Back then and today still it is not a piece that was and is so often recorded, and outstanding versions are rarer still. Other than the qualities of the soloist, it is essential in this work that the orchestra be treaded not as mere accompaniment but as an equal partner, and that the concerto's chamber-like textures, its constant interplay between soloist and various instrumental families in the character of a baroque concerto grosso, its often subtle and often saucy instrumental colors, its facetiously square neo-baroque rhythmic writing peppered with occasional limps, come out vividly and with great instrumental pungency.
Chung and Previn have all these qualities, placing their version among the very best of the dozen or more I have heard. Previn has got a keen sense of Stravinsky's orchestra, a great ear for color, and the necessary touch of irony. Every orchestral detail you wait for is there, vivid and clear. In the opening Toccata, the tuba is marvelously witty and the woodwinds chirp, in the middle section of the Aria II the basses have body, in the final Capriccio the 3 bassoons that open the movement dance as the hippos in Fantasia, and the woodwinds have a jazzy snap. Wonderful dialogues occur between Chung and the various soloists from the orchestra (bassoon, solo violin and cello). And these are only a few of the numerous orchestral felicities that abound under Previn's baton. Chung's tone is ardent and pure as Grumiaux's or Perlman's (Berg, Stravinsky: Violin Concertos), and she never feels the need to coax the lines and exaggerate the raucousness of her tone (a pitfall that Mutter, Witold Lutoslawski: Chain 2 / Partita / Igor Stravinsky: Violin Concerto - Anne-Sophie Mutter / BBC Symphony Orchestra / Witold Lutoslawski / Philharmonia Orchestra / Paul Sacher doesn't always avoid). In each movement the tempos are balanced, neither particularly fast (though the finale certainly does not linger) nor particularly slow. This is a classic, on a par with the composer's own recording with Isaac Stern from 1960 (Stravinsky: Concertos), Arthur Grumiaux and Ernest Bour's from 1966 (Berg / Stravinsky: Violin Concerto - Grumiaux, Markevitch, Bour), more unexpectedly, David Oistrakh and Bernard Haitink's from 1963 (Mozart Violin Concerto 1 / Stravinsky Violin Concerto - Oistrakh, Haitink).
"
The young Chung is fascinating in both Prokofiev concertos
Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 04/24/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Kung-Wha Chung was the first famous violin phenomenon from Asia, and as often happens, she turned out to be the best (so far). Her abilities transcend the copy cat; she has a distinctive tone that uses grit and raspiness when called for, and her musicmaking is full of individuality. Chng's take on the two Prokofiev concertos isn't Russian in lushness and big tone but all her own, full of details you won't hear from anyone else. That's one of the musical traits I most admire; therefore, I rate her version of both works high. Decca provides spectacular, very close
sound, allowing us to put our ears an inch away from the violin. Previn's conducting is also highly detailed, though it could use a good deal more bite, and soul, too, for that matter. His caution is the only drawback I can find in this estimable recording.
I tend to think of Chung as reather serious, on the verge of heavy-handed in her earnestness. Her approach to Prokofiev makes him sound serious, too. As applied to Stravinsky, however, it misses all the intellectual fizz; there's no neo-clasical lightness as Chung and Previn combine for some heavy stomping where jitterbugging would be more appropriate. Still, this CD deserves a listen just for the two Prokofiev works.
"
Track Listings (10) - Disc #1