This is the fifth instalment in the Chandos survey of Hindemith's orchestral
output and anyone who has spent time with any of the other discs will know
that Tortelier has already proved his credentials as an interpreter of
Hindemith's music. This latest addition is another fine disc although opinions
will no doubt differ amongst fans of the composer as to where the definitive
recordings lie.
The triumph of this particular disc is the Violin Concerto, which
is performed with tremendous panache by the Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos.
Kavakos possesses a beautiful, pure tone that has the clarity of crystal;
on the face of it not a characteristic that you would necessarily think of
as a prerequisite for performance of Hindemith's music. Yet it suits the
score wonderfully well, Kavakos floating over the orchestra in the central
Langsam with a sweetness that is just right for the often bittersweet
quality of Hindemith's melodic and harmonic palette. In the outer movements
also there is a definition in the articulation that is striking. Hindemith
was of course a fine violin and viola player himself and although this was
his only major work for solo violin and orchestra (there is a smaller scale
chamber concerto for the violin in his Kammermusik series) he wrote
for the instrument with clear skill and technical assurance. Kavakos carries
off the more demanding passages with admirable aplomb and precision, the
cadenza in the final Lebhaft being exceptionally well handled, and
overall makes a strong case for this fine concerto to be heard more often
in the concert hall. The orchestral accompaniment too is impressively incisive
and full where necessary but never overbearing.
Written in 1930 nine years before the Violin Concerto, the
Concert Music for Strings and Brass was commissioned
by Serge Koussevitsky and premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra as part
of their fiftieth anniversary season. It is a strong, bold work and here
receives a performance that is suitably full blooded, aided by the forward
yet magnificently richly recorded sound we have come to expect from Chandos.
Based loosely on the form of the baroque concerto grosso the work makes
considerable use of antiphonal effects associated with the idea of concertino
and ripieno groups, an aspect of the work that comes across strongly in this
performance. The BBC Philharmonic brass are in their element here with some
wonderfully sonorous sounds although the strings too are in fine form (listen
to the detail in the opening fugato of the second movement). The slow central
string melody at the heart of the second movement has just the right feeling
of pathos and the movement builds to a particularly thrilling conclusion.
For the Symphonic Metamorphoses I turned for comparison to
the 1988 Decca recording (421 523-2) by the San Francisco Symphony under
Herbert Blomstedt. This has long since been my preferred recording of this
work being coupled with an equally fine Mathis der Maler Symphony
and for my money it still holds its own, although Tortelier does run it close.
Again the bold presentation of Tortelier's performance impresses but Blomstedt
has the edge in the sheer vitality and spirit of the playing. Listen to the
exultant trumpet melody around 1'06" and the San Francisco brilliantly convey
the exuberance of the music (whoever said Hindemith was dry and academic!)
Both performances capture the jazzy elements of the Turandot Scherzo
well and the poignant Andantino, surely one of the composer's most
beautiful creations, is tenderly played by both orchestras. In the final
Marsch however it is Blomstedt once again who conveys the most convincing
case, both in the stately opening with its slightly steadier tempo through
to the blazing final bars.
Christopher Thomas
BBC Philharmonic conducted
by Yan Pascal Tortelier
