DSCH Violin Cto 2

Started by Herman, November 21, 2016, 01:30:52 AM

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Herman

These days I'm in love with Shostakovich's second Violin Concerto, from 1967.

It's not performed as often as the first violin concerto, which is turning into a real competition show-off piece, just as the Rach 3 and then the Prokofieff 2 did in piano competitions.

Somehow I have always preferred the second concerto, the way I generally prefer the more spare, later DSCH (the 11 - 15 string quartets, the symphonies 6 and 14 and 15, the 2nd cello concerto)  -  although all of this is subject to change over time, of course.

My question is which performances stick out for you  -  live or recorded. What I have is an Oistrakh - Kondrashin recording (coupled with sym 15) which in the booklet is helpfully dated prior to the composer completing the score*. I have Lydia Mordkovitch with Naeme Jarvi and I have Vengerov and Rostropovich  -  though where exactly I'm not sure.

I'm a little surprised I like Mordkovich best; Vengerov, as I remember, is a little too beautiful. Mordkovich combines bite and beauty; this Oistrakh recording is perhaps too much bite. Maybe I need to get another Oistrakh recording.

Maybe I need to get a 21st C recording.

Maybe I don't need anything at all.... What do you think?

* The booklet credits the recording to February 1967, while biographer Krystoph Meyer cites a letter from May 1967 to Oistrakh telling him about just having completed a concerto for him. BTW I'm kind of puzzled by the way Meyer proceeds to dismiss the 2nd concerto as not so good.

Karl Henning

The c# minor Concerto sneaked up on me, too; love it.

I especially like the Kremer/BSO/Ozawa recording (though, of course, I would  8) ) and also the Sergey Khachatryan/Masur.  (I have what is likely the same Oistrakh/Kondrashin 1967 recording.)
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

ahinton

Having heard her play it, I do wish that Alina Ibragimova would record it!

It will probably always play "second fiddle" (sorry!) to the composer's first concerto, just as Szymanowski's will, but both composers' second violin concertos are remarkable works indeed.

Mirror Image

I really like these recordings: Mordkovitch/Jarvi on Chandos and Vengerov/Rostropovich on Teldec. This concerto is definitely a work that one needs to spend more time on to 'get,' but it didn't take long before it's magic revealed itself to me. I read it's written in a strange key for a violin: C-sharp minor. Sounds quite natural to me, though.

vandermolen

#4
This is the version I'm sure that I had on LP and like very much.
[asin]B002WFCU9U[/asin]
I have a connection with this release as I wrote the notes - it was also reissued in Alto's boxed set of 'Great Shostakovich Symphonies':
[asin]B00FL4D3M2[/asin]
They don't mention the VC No.2 of the front of the box - but it is included.

For a more modern recording I agree with John (MI)about the Mordkovitch/Jarvi recording.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

vandermolen

Quote from: Mirror Image on November 21, 2016, 06:12:43 AM
I really like these recordings: Mordkovitch/Jarvi on Chandos and Vengerov/Rostropovich on Teldec. This concerto is definitely a work that one needs to spend more time on to 'get,' but it didn't take long before it's magic revealed itself to me. I read it's written in a strange key for a violin: C-sharp minor. Sounds quite natural to me, though.

I like your Shostakovich quote.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

vandermolen

Quote from: Herman on November 21, 2016, 01:30:52 AM
These days I'm in love with Shostakovich's second Violin Concerto, from 1967.

It's not performed as often as the first violin concerto, which is turning into a real competition show-off piece, just as the Rach 3 and then the Prokofieff 2 did in piano competitions.

Somehow I have always preferred the second concerto, the way I generally prefer the more spare, later DSCH (the 11 - 15 string quartets, the symphonies 6 and 14 and 15, the 2nd cello concerto)  -  although all of this is subject to change over time, of course.

My question is which performances stick out for you  -  live or recorded. What I have is an Oistrakh - Kondrashin recording (coupled with sym 15) which in the booklet is helpfully dated prior to the composer completing the score*. I have Lydia Mordkovitch with Naeme Jarvi and I have Vengerov and Rostropovich  -  though where exactly I'm not sure.

I'm a little surprised I like Mordkovich best; Vengerov, as I remember, is a little too beautiful. Mordkovich combines bite and beauty; this Oistrakh recording is perhaps too much bite. Maybe I need to get another Oistrakh recording.

Maybe I need to get a 21st C recording.

Maybe I don't need anything at all.... What do you think?

* The booklet credits the recording to February 1967, while biographer Krystoph Meyer cites a letter from May 1967 to Oistrakh telling him about just having completed a concerto for him. BTW I'm kind of puzzled by the way Meyer proceeds to dismiss the 2nd concerto as not so good.

That's quite funny as I wrote the booklet notes (Alto release)!  :o ??? ::)
However, I don't think I was responsible for dating the recording - must check.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Herman

Quote from: vandermolen on November 21, 2016, 06:28:59 AM
That's quite funny as I wrote the booklet notes (Alto release)!  :o ??? ::)
However, I don't think I was responsible for dating the recording - must check.

My 15 / 2 cd with the funny date is not on Alto but on Icone. It also says, in Trumpian gold letters, "Russian All Star Orchestra."

Herman

Quote from: Mirror Image on November 21, 2016, 06:12:43 AM
I really like these recordings: Mordkovitch/Jarvi on Chandos and Vengerov/Rostropovich on Teldec. This concerto is definitely a work that one needs to spend more time on to 'get,' but it didn't take long before it's magic revealed itself to me. I read it's written in a strange key for a violin: C-sharp minor. Sounds quite natural to me, though.

yeah, c sharp minor is a keyboard key.

One of the things that happen when the second, "romantic" movement start, which is in G minor, you suddenly get a sense everything falls into place, because it's a more natural key for a violin.

I suspect DSCH picked this up from Tchaikovsky, but he has this knack of writing delightfully romantic or even semi-corny stuff in the midst of really tough stuff, with tremendous effect.

vandermolen

Quote from: Herman on November 21, 2016, 06:36:17 AM
My 15 / 2 cd with the funny date is not on Alto but on Icone. It also says, in Trumpian gold letters, "Russian All Star Orchestra."
Phew! - I'm off the hook.
Must check the Alto however.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Karl Henning

Quote from: vandermolen on November 21, 2016, 06:28:59 AM
That's quite funny as I wrote the booklet notes (Alto release)!  :o ??? ::)
However, I don't think I was responsible for dating the recording - must check.

Zowie!
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Karl Henning

Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

vandermolen

"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Cato

For your consideration:

Sayaka Shoji with Yan Pascal Tortelier and the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra:

https://www.youtube.com/v/2dkplRUq4N8

"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

Mirror Image


kishnevi

Quote from: vandermolen on November 21, 2016, 06:19:19 AM
This is the version I'm sure that I had on LP and like very much.
[asin]B002WFCU9U[/asin]
I have a connection with this release as I wrote the notes - it was also reissued in Alto's boxed set of 'Great Shostakovich Symphonies':
[asin]B00FL4D3M2[/asin]
They don't mention the VC No.2 of the front of the box - but it is included.

For a more modern recording I agree with John (MI)about the Mordkovitch/Jarvi recording.

Am I correct in thinking that was the concerto's very first recording? Your notes did not address it, but the recording dates seem to have been only a few days after the very first performance.

vandermolen

Quote from: Jeffrey Smith on November 21, 2016, 05:46:00 PM
Am I correct in thinking that was the concerto's very first recording? Your notes did not address it, but the recording dates seem to have been only a few days after the very first performance.
I think that's the case but I'm not 100% sure.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Leo K.

#17


I have been really enjoying this account of the No.2 by Ibragimova. Wow the sound quality on this production is also a plus! Wowza

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: vandermolen on November 21, 2016, 06:19:19 AM
This is the version I'm sure that I had on LP and like very much.
[asin]B002WFCU9U[/asin]
I have a connection with this release as I wrote the notes - it was also reissued in Alto's boxed set of 'Great Shostakovich Symphonies':
[asin]B00FL4D3M2[/asin]
They don't mention the VC No.2 of the front of the box - but it is included.

For a more modern recording I agree with John (MI)about the Mordkovitch/Jarvi recording.
Looking at that box set has me drooling!

Quote from: Leo K. on October 04, 2022, 07:53:13 AM


I have been really enjoying this account of the No.2 by Ibragimova. Wow the sound quality on this production is also a plus! Wowza
Sounds like it would be a lovely recording!  All I have with her is 2 volumes of her Beethoven sonatas.  Years ago, I was lucky to see a performance with Svetlanov conducting (with the USSR SO).

By the way, if you want to adjust an image size (like if it's huge), after you hit the image icon, you just add in something like this:

[img height=500] or 400, etc.  Note:  no space between "height" and "=" sign.  And all I added in was "height=500".

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

relm1

Quote from: Leo K. on October 04, 2022, 07:53:13 AM


I have been really enjoying this account of the No.2 by Ibragimova. Wow the sound quality on this production is also a plus! Wowza

Me too, love that one but also Maxim's recording.  Probably because of nostalgic reasons.