Search - Nielsen, Fodor, Greenburg :: Violin Concerto / Romance for Violin & Orchestra

Fodor plays Nielsen Violin Cto-burning intensity, high play

Dan Fee | Berkeley, CA USA | 11/17/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Full disclosure requires me to say immediately that I am quite a big fan of the Carl Nielsen violin concerto. The more I listen to it, the better I like it, and the more highly I think it ranks in the concerto literature of the past century. That said, I must also admit that it has had very good recordings from Arve Tellefsen (EMI) with Blomstedt in a nice Nielsen concertos set; and Cho Liang Lin (Sony CBS) with Essa Pekka Salonen. While ardent and telling, the Tellefsen has a sense of classical poise, probably due in part to Blomstedt's fine leadership. CLL tops the list with his incredible elegance and penetrating ability to unfold the musical depths without shifting his gaze for one second, as it were, from the music and only the music. Salonen abets him in this effort, making the choices difficult. Devotees must have both on the nearby shelf.



Now comes Eugene Fodor in what amounts to his second career, the first youthful blaze having been interrupted by alleged cocaine addiction problems connected with being a top performer being welcomed into the fast lanes at glamorous venues, and even more glamorous after parties. In this case, if the addiction recovery stories are true, perhaps it is all for the best. The young Fodor was a brilliant fiddler, and a legitimate firebrand; but this older player has all that fire, along with a dimension of reflectiveness and depth that might have eluded the younger one.



Fodor's tone is hot, in the well-known lineage of fiddlers like David Oistrakh. Having grown quite fond of the CLL approach, which is equally intense without being in the least hot; I wondered how Fodor would sound to me now.



One difference of interpretation is that while both Tellefsen and Lin tend to play the Nielsen in paragraphs, Fodor pays much more intention to individuality of phrasing. This puts the immediate phrase at front stage center, where a spotlight of white-blue intensity makes you notice the flow of the moment. Like all good musicians, Fodor is adept at suggesting where the music has been, where ithe music quite intensely is now, and where the music may go next. Although the last movement, which is a jaunty rondo, is not taken particularly fast, you feel like you get the ready northern seas wit of it, like an evening full of fond chuckles that just keep bubbling along, rather than big belly laughs at circus clowning or slapstick mugging.



The Bavarian Chamber Orchestra responds expertly to Philip Greenberg's able leadership. Their woodwind playing as exposed in the slow movement, Poco adagio, shows a fine chamber-group like sense of intimacy that makes their interactions with the violin line very special, very special indeed. I find myself repeating their Poco adagio sometimes, the magic is just that special.



Rounding out the CD is Nielsen's Opus One Little Suite for string orchestra. It makes quite a good companion for the violin concerto, although I sometimes wish the record label had had the good sense to put it first, then let the violin concerto end the disc. If I ever burn a copy for the other music systems, I think I will reverse their order to try out my own suggestions.



Highly recommended. Playing is intense, brilliant, and mature with surprising depth of vision. Sound is state of the art, sixteen bit."