 "The violinist is dying! The maestro is high on weed!" | 2008-11-16 |
| - Reviewed By carlos_andres_ie |
Mullova used to be one of my favorite young violinists, worthy follower of her teacher, the great Leonid Kogan. Until this mediocre, sickly pale recording, almost completely lacking in energy, originality and drive.
When I first listened to the Stravinsky, it wasn't in full - I only listened to a fragment of the second movement, and was impressed by its playfulness. Since then I have tried and tried to like the rest of it, to make that first impression a self-fulfilling prophecy, but no, no matter how hard I tried the slow tempos - like an average of that of the Sácre - that barely challenge the soloist (the allusion is to the conveyor-belt people movers in airports), and add to the sluggishness and lack of imagination of the piece's theme development, bore me to a degree comparable only to that achieved by purely atonal music. Whatever child-like magic the piece achieves in few and far in between fragments is lost amid the indolent drive and morose development.
And here comes Mullova and Salonen to add to the overall drabness and artitistico-ideological grayness with an interpretation so weak, so utterly lacking in passion and desire to experiment, that the performance has the singular merit of neither putting me to sleep (the sheer ugliness of its banality prevents that) or keeping my ears pricked up with curiosity and a desire for more. The talent and energy I had noticed in Mullova's interpretation of the Tchaikovsky (also with Salonen) is nowhere present here - instead the violin turns into a mosquito in the upper registers, where lies, in my not too humble opinion, one of the basic tests of violin virtuosity. That Mullova can't perform up to par even with steamroller tempos is one hell of a disappointment, the size of a weather ballon being pricked with heavy AA fire.
When the time came for the BartĂłk, my hopes were high - BartĂłk is not as a chilly a modernist as the overrated Stravinsky, presiding Ă©minence gris of American music for God knows how many decades (that is, even after death), hanging like a gray winter day over music schools, newspapers and concert halls. But it was as chilly as the Stravinsky, with as little drive and passion, tempo modulation resembling the droning push of a water mill, and challenges to the virtuoso that barely surpass those expected of a concertmaster in Strauss' Ein Heldeleben. And the un-dynamic duo that flattened the already crumpled Stravinsky do the same with this work, with the same passion for turning music into flavorless porridge.
So Hahn, Shaham, Salerno-Sonenberg, Chang - say hello to your new comrade, youngish in the business, but already performing as if 5 years past retirement! Should Mullova put her bow down like a replica samurai sword on a horizontal stand, to perform a merely visual aesthetical purpose; lend her million dollar violin to the next generation, and dedicate the rest of her life to the raising of her family and silent contemplation of her past achievements? I really hope not - instead, that circumstance (health, worries) overwhelmed her and hurt her playing in this recording. Salonen's pallid conducting can't be blamed for her poor sound production, as I have listened to Mullova's own mentor Kogan play the Tchaikovsky as well as usual with an unsurprisingly inept, bureaucratic French orchestra under a maestro that gave the whole work something like a tempo buffo or worse - ubriaco. |
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 "Good performance .Different Finale" | 2008-04-08 |
| - Reviewed By colarusso |
| This good recording is the only one to use the Second Finale that Bartok wrote to the Violin (2) Concerto. Like the Concerto for Orchestra he wrote two finalles. I prefer this used in this recording. |
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| "back in print!" | 2007-12-27 |
| - Reviewed By User: A103HTAXYR0BKC |
| This is indeed a great recording, and I have nothing to add but to note that this CD is back in print, sorta. It's been released as a Philips double decker, coupled with Shostakovich VC 1 and Prokofiev VC 2. So basically all popular 20th century violin concertos in one slim case, and available at Amazon. |
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| "Splendid Performances of the Stravinsky and Bartok Violin Concertos from Mullova etc." | 2007-04-18 |
| - Reviewed By jkwok60 |
| Viktoria Mullova is without question, among our finest solo violinists, but hers is a career that is relatively little known in the United States, in stark contrast to the ample popular and critical acclaim she's received in Europe. Her 2000 Philips recording of the Stravinsky and Bartok 2nd violin concertos should have won additional acclaim for her here, but sadly, it's been ignored, in stark contrast to other, more popular recordings from violinists as diverse as Itzhak Perlman and Hilary Hahn, for example. Mullova is one soloist who opts for adhering as closely to the composer's wishes as possible, opting for exuberant emotional playing only when it is demanded of her in these scores. inded, her performance of the Stravinsky violin concerto is most consistent with someone performing one of Mozart's violin concerti (A comparison which is most apt given the neo-classical style of Stravinsky's work.), in which she emphasizes a lean, bright tone to her playing, which sounds almost whimsical, especially in the Aria (2nd and 3rd) and Capriccio (4th) movements. In stark contrast, her performance of the Bartok second violin sounds a bit more brash, indeed bold, but here she emphasizes a more muscular-sounding tone from her violin. In conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen and a chamber orchestra-version of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, she has sympathetic partners, who provide nuanced, understated, and yet, still elegant playing to her splendid solos in each concerto. Having enjoyed immensely both her recent Beethoven violin concerto recording with John Eliot Gardiner and his period instrument band and a much earlier recording that's sadly out of print of her performances of the Sibelius and Tchaikovsky violin concertos with Seiji Ozawa conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra, I am delighted to recommend this 2000 recording of hers as among the best I've heard of either the Stravinsky or Bartok 2nd violin concertos. |
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| "Two Favorite 'Modern' Concerti Magnificently Performed" | 2006-05-21 |
| - Reviewed By gradyharp |
It is so refreshing to note that these two 20th century concerti are now considered staples of the repertoire of the major orchestras. Both of them are not only inventive and demanding, but they are also simply beautiful music!
Viktoria Mullova is a perfect match for these works. Her technique is dazzling while being more concerned with the composer's ideas than her own. In the Violin Concerto in D major by Stravinsky she is as brisk and perky as any artist on record. Her control over the dynamics and the phrasing fit like a glove.
In the Violin Concerto No. 2 in B minor of Bela Bartok she sings the elegant opening movement with all the passion it demands, and yet in the second movement her technical virtuosity is cheeky and assured. In both of these works Mullova is partnered with the Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group as conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen: finer collaboration would be difficult to imagine. The LA Phil New Music Ensemble is merely a reduced form of the LA Phil and sound is lushly resonant where called for and tightly attentive when the speed and accuracy of the collaborative portion are paramount. Salonen knows this repertoire well and molds the soloist and orchestra into a finely honed whole. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, May 06
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| "Sweeter in both concertos than what we're used to" | 2006-01-14 |
| - Reviewed By huntleysf |
The Amazon reviewer, like almost every critic before him, trots out "astringent" to describe the Stravinsky violin concerto, written in 1931, the prime of his neo-clasical period. Mullova and Salonen conquer the cliche with a sweet-toned performance that dances and chirps light-heartedly. Mullova doesn't take the opportunity to dig into the music; she is content to be part f the contrapuntal weave as the most important thread. On her own terms, it's the first Stravinsky concerto performance I would call charming.
The Bartok Second Concerto is a considerably more significant masterpiece. This is a work where astringency applies, along with a touch of the barbaric. But Mullova goes her own way again--she is warm and lyrical throughout. In fact, the miraculous thing about her style in general, now that I know it fairly well--is how she can keep one's interest without much external show. She uses beauty of tone and sensitive phrasing in the best way possible, to bring across deeply felt musical instincts. I would rate her the most musical violinist now before the public, despite my high regard for Vengerov and Shaham, both of whom resemble Mullova in style. Excellent sound, by the way, and the LA Phil. plays with panache and bite in the Bartok, staying well on the side of refinement. |
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