A fine soloist, a distinguished
orchestra and an often great conductor
– it’s a strong augury for a successful
performance and recording. And in some
ways it is. These are unfailingly thoughtful
and serious performances, yoked together
perhaps a bit unexpectedly, though not
if David Oistrakh were still alive as
this is just his kind of big boned coupling.
To take the Brahms first, this gets
a rather personalised reading. It opens
slowly and deliberately with some italicised
orchestral passages presaging the solo
entry from Rachlin – quick, unportentous,
not stopping at all to make chordal
hay, instead moving on with the orchestral
patina. One can see exactly his point.
The undeclamatory solo line is being
fused more to the orchestral sound world,
integrated into it instead of seeming
to be detached from it. Then he slows,
indulging some unusually introspective
paragraphs, almost it has to be said
to breaking point in terms of the spine
of the argument. The interiority of
the solo line is remarkable but seems,
in the context of the opening, almost
contradictory, despite the excellently
brought out horn harmonies and wind
lines. There’s a chamber intimacy to
the slow movement with colours subtly
changing and a sweetly lyric pathos
to the phrasing. Rachlin fines down
his tone to a whisper here. In the finale
there are one or two jarring phrases
where Rachlin leaps out of the line
- but each to his own, I suppose. I
hope I’ve suggested something of the
intimacy and reserve of the performance.
My own view is that this is only a partial
solution to the Concerto’s complex problems
and it’s not one that satisfied me –
but I can well imagine admiration in
other quarters.
The Mozart satisfied
me less. There’s phrasal impatience
in the opening movement and some unconvincing
inflexions - though Rachlin does play
the Franko cadenza, which is a pleasant
change. The slow movement is really
quite slow, which I welcome, with expressive
and intense phrasing over the pizzicato
lower strings but I am afraid to say
that it sounded over sophisticated to
my ears and not felt; fake is a strong
word but I’ll risk it. The finale is
only so-so. To be blunt I wish Rachlin
had recorded something else because
he lacks the ease and innocence of execution
for Mozart, at least on this showing.
Cards on the table.
It’s a no. The recording is warm and
rich, the playing searching and always
intriguing. But despite the auguries
it’s still a no. Too much here is not
properly thought through to ultimate
musical ends.
Jonathan Woolf
The recording is warm
and rich, the playing searching and
always intriguing. But despite the auguries
it’s still a no. ... see Full Review
Julian Rachlin (violin) 
