An evergreen concerto is compellingly reframed
The Strad Issue: November 2024
Description: An evergreen concerto is compellingly reframed
Musicians: James Ehnes (violin) Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra/Edward Gardner
Works: Sibelius: Violin Concerto; Two Humoresques op.87; Four Humoresques op.89; Two Pieces op.77; Two Serenades op.69; Suite op.117 (JS185)
Catalogue number: CHANDOS CHSA5267
James Ehnes is stylish and captivating in the opening paragraph of Sibelius’s Violin Concerto, from its whispered entry through to drama and declamation, all played with nicely judged freedom. This is a pacey account: Edward Gardner and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra keep things moving through the tutti, in which the brass snarl splendidly.
Ehnes brings firm direction and a touch of theatricality to the cadenza and dashes off the final section of the first movement in fine, flamboyant style. The beginning of the Adagio di molto is ardently rhetorical, with Ehnes’s tone fervent and compelling, allowing the movement to develop in one great powerful arc. The finale offers high-energy release, with the soloist’s virtuosity splendidly to the fore.
After the concerto come what seem to be everything else Sibelius wrote for violin and orchestra. The Six Humoresques have distinct colourful personalities. There are crisp staccatos and rhythmic energy in the first one, biting earthiness in the third, shifts between soulful meditation and jollity in no.4 and, in the final one, eccentric good humour.
In the first of the Two Pieces Ehnes plays the slinky lyrical thirds in its unearthly central E flat minor section very effectively; in the second of the Two Serenades he offers eloquent melodic shaping and snappy dotted rhythms. The three-movement Suite contains short, genial depictions of rural life, with a scampering moto perpetuo to finish. The recording is clear and well balanced.
TIM HOMFRAY
No comments yet