MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2023
Approaching 60,000 reviews
and more.. and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger


 REVIEW


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

alternatively
CD: AmazonUK AmazonUS
Download: Classicsonline


Édouard LALO (1823-1892)
Violin Concerto, Op.20 (1873) [23:55]
Fantaisie norvégienne (1878) [13:20]
Symphonie espagnole, Op.21 (1874) [31:21]
Jean-Jacques Kantorow (violin)
Granada City Orchestra/Kees Bakels
rec. Granada, Spain, December 2007
BIS BIS-CD-1680 [69:39]
Experience Classicsonline

The disc contains three works by Édouard Lalo for violin and orchestra - all written in the 1870s. Two of them are small and virtually unknown but deserve more prominence. The third is a staple of the romantic repertoire, receiving a fresh interpretation, quite different from what we might be used to.

Lalo did not enjoy much success in his lifetime, although his melodic gift was admired by some of his fellow composers. The works on this disc testify to his talent. The music stores no hidden depths, it is not contrapuntal or forward-looking in any way. Let's be honest, it is also fairly predictable and sweet-toothed. On the good side it is pleasant, melodic, and is a good vehicle for violinists’ virtuosity. In fact, all three pieces were created for the great Sarasate, and he paid back generously by making Lalo's name internationally known. It is nice to have concertos written by a skilled violinist for a great violinist: the composer both can and may express himself as he wants.

The Violin Concerto is best described by the word "sweet". The first movement is by far the longest and stores the main symphonic weight. It has the grace of the Mendelssohn's though is not nearly as memorable. The themes are short, not contrasting and, not surprisingly, resemble those from the first movement of Lalo's Cello Concerto, a deeper and darker work written three years later. The mood is agitated, and the soloist gets excellent opportunities to show virtuosity. The orchestra, as in other Lalo's concertante works, has a prominent role and is not reduced to mere accompaniment à la Paganini. The second movement is a sister of the slow movement of Saint-Saëns' Third Concerto. It has the same caressing sweetness, but alas, is so short. The beginning of the third movement is strikingly bold and promises a lot of good surprises, which are provided in due course. Some themes are banal, but their abundance makes up for this: Lalo is not a miser!

Fantaisie norvégienne is a tiny concerto in the familiar pattern: slow introduction and allegro - sweet romance - devilishly virtuosic finale. A tender oboe invites you to the pleasures of nature. Violin flights and falls draw the picture of fjords and cliffs. You can physically feel the freshness of the air. And then a dance begins. It is a real folk dance, with an infectious rhythm and a merry stomp. Lalo claimed to use genuine folk tunes. The middle part is another quiet pastorale, exactly what you would expect in this place in such a piece. The soloist gets to strut his stuff a lot throughout the fantasy, but it's the final part where the whole rainbow of skills and tricks is on display. Going faster and faster, the music is absolutely enthralling.

While the Violin Concerto lacks a certain profundity, and the Fantaisie norvégienne is a pretty postcard akin to Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies, the Symphonie espagnole is an acclaimed masterpiece. Its national character is a homage to its dedicatee Sarasate, and not a tribute to the fashion for Spanish-hued pieces, so popular in French music in those days. Actually, Lalo's creation was the first to appear in this colorful, clamorous family, followed by Bizet's Carmen. More a suite with violin obbligato than a symphony or a standard concerto, it was envisioned by the composer as "a violin soaring above the rigid form of an old-fashioned symphony". The choice of name was a clever marketing move: just try to accept it and it will start to feel right somehow.

The beginning is not especially Spanish. Hating to be called a jester and wishing to be acknowledged as a serious composer of Germanic tradition, Lalo almost managed to suppress his natural style, on the way losing some charm. So the first movement is a solid symphonic attempt, with echoes of Brahms and an odd mixture of styles. Though it has some wonderful moments, they are not new. Anyway, the part works well as a starting point. And as if having said "OK, I did it, now let's have fun", Lalo then takes off his serious cap, and the magic begins.

The second movement is a perfumed, lilting seguidilla, and the orchestra turns into one huge guitar. Then comes the Intermezzo, the most Spanish part of the symphony, its character closest to the ground. It has one of Lalo's most memorable tunes, a habanera worthy of Carmen, though the picture it paints is less of a rebellious bird and more of some old Azucena in a good mood. The brooding, somber Andante has a heartfelt melody, while the orchestral part could come from Mendelssohn's Scottish shores. The final rondo is once again a shower of virtuosic bravura, yet irresistibly charming. And there is a delightful malagueña right in the middle of it. The orchestration is ingenious and piquant throughout.

There is a crowd of symphonies espagnoles on the market, and almost nothing for the other two pieces. You would probably want this disc if you like conservative French music of the late 19th Century. Jean-Jacques Kantorow's violin is a 1699 Stradivarius, its voice smooth and white, rather high-timbre. Instead of big romantic gestures à la Saint-Saëns or Tchaikovsky, Kantorow gives us a finely worked lace, very beautiful. However in a lace it can be difficult to follow the main line, which happens here sometimes. The playing is clear on the molecular level, all the tiniest filigree details are sharp. This version of the symphony is brisker and lighter than many other performances in the catalog, and very enthusiastic. However, let us not forget that these three works were created for Sarasate, whose manner of playing was reputedly so relaxed and natural that it almost seemed off-hand. A shade more lazy nonchalance would have been welcome, especially in the symphony. It is just so busy.

The orchestral backing is superb, never too heavy, and very rhythmically precise. The conductor Kees Bakels certainly does a great job and is in good accord with the soloist. The program notes in English, German and French are tasty and nutritious, telling a lot about the pre- and post-natal life of the works. The recording is clear, the listener is put in a concert-hall perspective: the soloist is perceptibly closer, and the orchestra sounds two-dimensional. Together with the lightweight approach taken by the soloist and the conductor, this makes the symphony sound fresh and young, as opposed to more ripe, meaty, probably more expressive but also more mannered interpretations. Still, I feel something is lost.

Oleg Ledeniov 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.