Enescu: Three Symphonies

George Enescu (1881-1955) was known primarily as one of the great virtuoso violinists of his day, although he was also a celebrated conductor and influential teacher of his instrument – Yehudi Menuhin, Arthur Grumiaux, Ivri Gitlis, and Christian Ferras were just a few of the great violin soloists of the latter half of the 20th century who passed through his classes in Paris.

Apart from the First Romanian Rhapsody, it is only recently that Enescu, the composer of a small but substantial catalogue of works, has come to the fore and this set, comprising his three completed symphonies and his best-known Violin Sonata, should further enhance his reputation.

Adams, J: Violin Concerto, Etc

“…Chloë Hanslip is the sort of musician every teenager forced to practise their scales dreams of becoming. The richness and clarity of her tone is beyond learning, and she demonstrates such profound empathy for John Adams's 1993 Violin Concerto that Gidon Kremer... consider himself completely outplayed. This is the sort of performance that secures a reputation for life.” --Gramophone Magazine, October 2006

“It's excellent sense to couple John Adams's Violin Concerto with John Corigliano's Chaconne based on his film music for The Red Violin. Both require bravura of the highest order… This is the fourth recording of the Adams Concerto. …Hanslip's new version seems to me undoubtedly the one to acquire.” --BBC Music Magazine, October 2006 *****

“As an overall concept this album is a mess. Franz Waxman's arrangement of Enescu's First Romanian Rhapsody is positioned before the Adams Concerto and sounds like an encore before the main event. Waxman's Tristan and Isolde Fantasia pushes Wagner towards Cecil B DeMille histrionics, while John Corigliano's hacked-together Chaconne is episodic and rhetorical and is severely lacking in the material department.

This is a pity because nothing should hide the fact that Chloë Hanslip is the sort of musician every teenager forced to practise their scales dreams of becoming. The richness and clarity of her tone is beyond learning, and she demonstrates such profound empathy for John Adams's 1993 Violin Concerto that Gidon Kremer (Nonesuch) can consider himself completely outplayed. This is the sort of performance that secures a reputation for life.

The first movement is a particular challenge, as an unwinding melodic line generates itself over a quarter-hour span. Kremer plays the notes mechanically but Hanslip deconstructs their meaning and pieces together a cogent narrative direction that's a bona fide interpretation.

The sing-song ballad quality of the slow middle movement unlocks her lyrical imagination, while the tricky moto perpetuo of the violin part zigzags and breakdances across occasional Nancarrow-like rhythmic overlays in an exuberant finale. Assertive and enthused accompaniment from Slatkin and the RPO, too – everybody's doing Adams the greatest of service.” --Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

Bacewicz & Enescu: Works for Violin and Piano

“Herself a successful violinist, Bacewicz's violin works are idiomatic and stunningly effective. Lydia Mordkovitch produces ringingly authoritative interpretations: the music favours her rich, dark timbres and her capacity. The underrated Second Sonata of Enescu makes a perfectly-judged complement. Splendid performances of splendid music that deserves to be better.” --BBC Music Magazine *****

“Exhilarating works from two of eastern Europe's finest violinist-composers. Mordkovitch is in fine form throughout, ably accompanied by Ian Fountain, and the sound is excellent.” --Gramophone Magazine

Bacewicz was the most prominent Polish female composer of the twentieth century and a renowned violinist who, by contemporary accounts, was surpassed only by Ginette Neveu and David Oistrakh. She left a legacy of over 200 compositions, many of which have never been heard in the West. The Partita was written after a long hospitalisation – the result of a serious automobile accident. Although Bacewicz’s body was immobilised, her musical mind must have been very active. She provided two versions of the work, one for orchestra and the second for violin and piano which we hear on this recording. Bacewicz’s Third Violin Sonata is one of her lesser-known pieces. Bacewicz is frequently labelled a neoclassicist, but she is much more robust and muscular in her approach than many of her contemporaries.

George Enescu was a prodigy as both performer and composer and was not yet eighteen when he completed the Second Violin Sonata. His world here is not Romanian, but rather influenced by Brahms, Franck and Fauré; however, the work still exudes a healthy respect for the tradition which he inherited.

Both Bacewicz and Enescu studied in Paris, and were professional violinists and pianists who imbued their music with a profound knowledge of their instruments, clearly demonstrated in this new recording.

MP3 320 · 162 MB