This is an extremely
attractive proposition. In recent years
Krysia Osostowicz has made her credentials
abundantly clear as a thoughtful, expressive
and understanding exponent of Rubbra’s
violin works. This was certainly the
case with the sonatas and is no less
the case with her successful delineation
of the Violin Concerto. It’s quite a
tricky work to characterise and is perhaps
less immediately appealing than the
Viola Concerto, a work that I hope Naxos
will get around to – let’s hear Lawrence
Power do it.
For now Osostowicz
has the field to herself. The Pini and
the Little recordings (the latter coupled
with Golani’s fine recording of the
Viola Concerto) have both been long
deleted. She takes a decidedly more
measured view than either, yet allowing
the lines to unfold with elasticity
and with a sure sense of direction.
It’s moot whether the greater concision
of the older recordings is more apt
for this work but one can certainly
say that Osostowicz has a consistent
view of the concerto. She has laid down
a broadcast recording, with the BBC
Scottish Orchestra and Nicholas Kok,
that is perfectly consonant with this
commercial recording.
In the Improvisation
she locates the sweet bleakness that
runs through the opening measures, the
lyricism and the eruptive material as
well. And Yuasa activates some finely
chattering woodwinds and draws out the
angularity of the writing with precision,
allowing the beneficence at the end
to emerge in all its glory. So too do
they do justice to the Concerto. They
respond, as they must, to that organic
sense of direction that runs throughout
Rubbra’s muse, and Yuasa does well to
point up the contrastive saturnine depths
and the responding treble air and clear,
songful grace of the solo line.
There’s quite an elastic
sense of the lyrical here, certainly
in comparison with the two previous
commercial recordings, fine and silvery
tone from the soloist whose rapid trill
and dexterity lend a colourful patina
to the solo part. There’s a good first
movement cadenza and generally not so
gaunt a profile as the work sometimes
receives – so for example in the central
movement the string mass, flute and
other wind solos and the mysterioso
high lying solo line are all characterised
with great sensibility. The Prokofiev
touches in the finale and the general
definition are attractive features of
this performance as are the unstoppable
running orchestral figures and the excitingly
throwaway percussion at the end. This
is a commanding statement from an artist
fully in tune with her material and
with Rubbra’s way of writing for it.
She also has the chamber musician’s
sensibility to pay attention to the
orchestral contribution and respond
accordingly. Others may prefer a tighter
view all round, such as Pini (especially)
and Little (his superior in matters
of tone) bring but until they’re restored
to the catalogue (and even if they were)
this would still remain a strong contender.
As a delightful pendant,
though it’s programmed between the two-concertante
works, we have the Farnaby Improvisations,
five rollickingly attractive and light-hearted
pieces, genial, well pointed and tuneful.
These have been recorded before but
these performances are delightful.
Jonathan Woolf
see also reviews
by Rob
Barnett, Kevin
Sutton (November recording
of the Month) and Gary
Higginson
Krysia Osostowicz, violin 
