Young violinists sometimes turn war horses like the Tchaikovsky Concerto into superficial virtuoso displays to show off their technique, but Julia Fischer gives us a thoughtfully nuanced view of the work that exposes detai... more »ls often ignored. Her tone is beautiful, and she varies it to fit the emotional content of the passages she is playing. While her performance is expressive, it is also a mature one -- she doesn't milk parts for their surface impact, rather she digs more deeply into the music to produce a performance that will bear many rehearings. While Fischer generates plenty of excitement in the outer movements, the Canzonetta remains in the memory for the sweet singing of her violin. Her lyric sensibility also makes for a Sérénade mélincolique stunning in its spare beauty. The Valse-Scherzo, Op. 34, is done with plenty of dash, and the three-movement Souvenir d'un lieu cher is superbly done. The contributions of Kreizberg and the Russian National Orchestra help make this disc a worthy contender even in a crowded market for Tchaikovsky Concerto discs. Kreizberg is also a sympathetic piano accompanist in the Souvenir d'un lieu cher. --Dan Davis« less
Young violinists sometimes turn war horses like the Tchaikovsky Concerto into superficial virtuoso displays to show off their technique, but Julia Fischer gives us a thoughtfully nuanced view of the work that exposes details often ignored. Her tone is beautiful, and she varies it to fit the emotional content of the passages she is playing. While her performance is expressive, it is also a mature one -- she doesn't milk parts for their surface impact, rather she digs more deeply into the music to produce a performance that will bear many rehearings. While Fischer generates plenty of excitement in the outer movements, the Canzonetta remains in the memory for the sweet singing of her violin. Her lyric sensibility also makes for a Sérénade mélincolique stunning in its spare beauty. The Valse-Scherzo, Op. 34, is done with plenty of dash, and the three-movement Souvenir d'un lieu cher is superbly done. The contributions of Kreizberg and the Russian National Orchestra help make this disc a worthy contender even in a crowded market for Tchaikovsky Concerto discs. Kreizberg is also a sympathetic piano accompanist in the Souvenir d'un lieu cher. --Dan Davis
CD Reviews
A Musical and Assured Tchaikovsky Concerto, and More
J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 01/14/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"[I am utterly astounded at the negative tone of the previous customer review here of Julia Fischer's traversal of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto and some of his other concerted violin works. The writer's reference to "frequent odd noises on the disk, including instrument sounds, fizzing, fuzziness and noises as made with a live audience" makes me wonder if s/he got hold of a defective disc. I heard no such extraneous noises. As for the negative comments on Fischer's technical abilities, I can only gape in wonder and assume we must have been listening to different discs.]
Julia Fischer is a young German violinist who has truly come into her own in the last few years. She is now recording exclusively for the PentaTone label and they have given her luxuriously refulgent SACD sound and marvelous engineering. She is supported here by the virtuosic Russian National Orchestra under Jakov Kreizberg, a rising Russian-born conductor living in the US since the 1970s (and brother of conductor Semyon Bychkov). Her playing here is subtle and nuanced, marked by extraordinary management of dynamics -- her pianissimi are hair-raising in the first movement cadenza; the brio of her playing especially in the allegro vivacissimo finale is sensational. And never an ugly sound, even in loud passages with double stops.
For lagniappe we get Tchaikovsky's two other concerted works for violin and orchestra, the lovely Sérénade mélancolique and the sprightly Valse - Scherzo, Op. 34, both played with the same flair and luscious tone as the concerto.
Finally, there is the rarely heard Souvenir d'un lieu cher ('Memory of a Beloved Place') with conductor Kreizberg at the piano. I will confess I'd never heard it before and was utterly charmed by this sixteen-minute work with its three movements: Méditation, Scherzo, and Mélodie. (The first movement uses material Tchaikovsky had composed and then rejected for the slow movement of the Concerto.) There is the usual Tchaikovsky melancholy coupled with a sensitive piano accompaniment (sensitively played by Kreizberg). It was so lovely that on first hearing I had to press the repeat function and listen to it again.
Recommended.
Scott Morrison"
Extraordinary ! Beautiful, Lyrical, Exciting
Bruce Zeisel | Albany, NY United States | 04/02/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"First and formost, Julia Fischer reaches into the song, the soul of the music to give us the most beautiful rendition I ever heard. Her tone can only be characterized as jewel-like set within a golden aura. It is not a silvery tone, it is rich, golden but with kalidescopic highlights of a million colors.
With all this she has a steely assurance and an ability to "dig in" to the strings (without the ugliness this usually implies) and works up huge creschendos and plays bravura passages with uncommon urgency. Kreizburg and the orchestra are one with this outstanding musicianship and provide ideal accompaniment - they play as partners actually, more than as accompanists.
Not very long ago Viktoria Mullova declared she had excised the Tchaikovsky from her repertoire because the musical rewards do not justify the effort required of the soloist! Agreeing with her, I thought I had tired of work but decided to give this a listen having heard Fischer give a phenomenal performance of the Beethoven in Baltimore last spring. Well I am not tired of it when its played like this!
As to the recorded sound quality, I listened to it as an SACD. In additon to the 5 channel surround layer I listened to there is an SACD stereo layer and a CD layer. I understand the stereo is not mixed down from the multi-channel mix but is a totally separate, but simultaneous recording.
The "surround" sound actually centers the listener about 7 or 8 rows back from the stage in an acoustic that is spacious and clear, but unlike in stereo the reflected sounds from the side and back walls come from behind and to the side of you. It sounds very much like actually being in a concert hall. While the dynamics and power of the orchestra are striking, the interplay of soloist and orchestral musicians is simply beautiful to hear. This is a very natural sounding and wonderful recording."
Let's get this average rating up!
D. C. Harrison | 02/02/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I feel obliged to write in briefly with a 5 star review, to boost the average rating so that no-one will see the 3-star average and pass on this marvellous performance and recording. We should be at a little over 4 by now...
I agree with everything that Scott Morrison has said. I thought that Julia Fischer's performance of my favourite violin concerto (well...it's this or Sibelius. Or Shostakovich's First...) was as good as Viktoria Mullova's and (though I hate to say it) better than Anne-Sophie Mutter's live version, while the orchestral accompaniment was even more splendid than Seiji Ozawa's. The extra pieces are also well worth hearing.
Hugely recommended."
Outstanding
N. J. Miller | Saint Paul, MN USA | 11/25/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"First, a few disclaimers:
1) I listened to the Multi-channel SACD layer only
2) My listening setup consists mainly of Stereophile Class-B components
3) My familiarity with the Tchaikovsky violin concerto is limited to a handful of live listens and only one other recorded version, performed by Midori.
That out of the way, my notes:
- This is remarkably well-recorded -- spacious and concert hall like, but with the listener positioned in the acoustic center of everything. As compared to live, Fischer is mixed a bit louder on the recording, but this is fine as far as I'm concerned.
- A beautiful interpretation. The attacks are sharp but musical and with emotion. A wonderful tone throughout. Mvmt 1 is the best I've heard.
- I got chills at several points. To my ear, the performance is technically brilliant, but when you're listening you don't care -- she draws you in causing you to listen with your emotion rather than technique, as a good author or movie director will draw you into the story rather than the syntax...masterful.
- the very final note of the 3rd movement seemed a little off to me, but otherwise everything between soloist and orchestra was pretty tight
- no clue as to what the review who gave this a 1-star was listening...sounds like either a bad disc or a faulty playback system. my opinion couldn't be more opposite.
I'd definitely recommend. And highly."
Excellent performance of both Fischer and Yakov
J. W. M. Peters | Netherlands | 03/31/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I heard Fischer life in Bratislava and decided to buy this CD. Her performance was marvellous, although the orchestral accompaniment was less than on this CD. Her fabulous technique is completely for the use of her great, authentic performance and she is in an phenomenal way accompanied by Yakov Kreizberg. My first predeliction for this concerto was Leonid Kogan's performance in the sixties and I had the same experience listening to Fischer's. This concerto makes high demands upon the performers to give a unified performance, but they really succeed.
Track Listings (8) - Disc #1