Bronislaw Gimpel (violin)
Live Volume 1
rec. 1930s-1967
DOREMI DHR-8163/4 [75:24 + 79:12]
Bronisław Gimpel (1911-1979) was never signed up by a major label and, as a consequence, his legacy has taken something of a backseat. It was a career that was multi-faceted, embracing the roles of soloist, concertmaster, chamber musician, teacher and conductor. Born in Lemberg, now known as Lviv, a city in western Ukraine, his first teacher was his father. At the age of eight he enrolled at the Lwów Conservatory to study with Moritz Wolfstahl. By eleven he’d progressed sufficiently to begin studies at the Vienna Conservatory under the tutelage of Robert Pollack, who was Isaac Stern’s early teacher. Later, Gimpel spent about a year with Carl Flesch at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik, yet never attained the acclaim of the pedagogue’s most famous pupils, who included Henryk Szeryng, Ida Haendel, Ivry Gitlis and Ginette Neveu. Flesch advised him to get some orchestral experience, and Gimpel spent time working under Herman Scherchen in Königsberg and Otto Klemperer in Los Angeles. He then went on to pursue a solo career. He founded the Warsaw Quintet, and later the New England String Quartet in the States. Between 1967 and 1973 he taught at the University of Connecticut. Other teaching posts included a spell in the 1970s as a professor at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, UK. He returned to his remaining family in Los Angeles in 1978 and died a year later aged only sixty-eight.
The first CD begins with two dazzling works by the Polish composer Henryk Wieniawski, taken from a 1949 live concert broadcast by the ABC Concert Orchestra directed by Earl Wild. Each work is prefaced by announcements. Wieniawski’s popular Second Concerto has had many significant outings in the recording studio by such stellar exponents as Heifetz, Elman, Rabin, Stern and Perlman. This traversal holds its head high in such distinguished company. Gimpel draws on his prodigious technique to deliver a scintillating virtuosic account. Indeed, the execution of the more challenging virtuoso passages seems effortless. The central Romance is delivered with great feeling and passion. There’s a more expansive take on the Concerto that the violinist recorded in 1954 with the RIAS orchestra under Alfred Gohlke. It can be found on Audite (24.418). The other work is the Polonaise brillante No. 2 in A major, Op. 21, which showcases some impressive crisply articulated up-bow staccatos and fingered octaves in pristine intonation. The subtle rubato adds a further positive dimension.
From the same year Gimpel himself directs the ABC Concert Orchestra in the opening movement of Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnole and Sarasate’s Malagueña. Both overflow with Iberian flavour. Malagueña is particularly distinctive for its smoky flavour and tasteful rubato. If you want to hear Gimpel in a complete version of the Lalo (thankfully all five movements), then there’s a version from the mid-fifties with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra under Fritz Rieger, issued by Forgotten Records (FR1620), which I’ve reviewed.
The remainder of disc 1 is devoted to virtuoso works for violin and piano. From a live broadcast on August 29 1953, and accompanied by Richard Bechmann on piano, Gimpel performs dazzling showpieces by Wieniawski (Scherzo-tarantella), Sarasate (Jota Navarra) and Paganini (24th Caprice). Each showcases the violinist's prodigious technical arsenal, with the Wieniawski and Paganini numbers certainly giving Heifetz a run for his money. There’s also an impressive Zigeunerweisen by Sarasate from two years later with Martin Krause on piano.
The earliest recordings in the collection date from the 1930s. The two Kreisler pieces are accompanied by the violinist’s brother Karol. Tambourine chinois is taken at breakneck speed, and whilst Gimpel has the technique to accomplish this feat, it doesn’t, in my view, do much for the music. There again, maybe he was in a hurry and had a bus to catch. In the Praeludium e Allegro, the former is heroically declaimed, whilst the latter is fleet of foot, but accurate in every way. The pianist for Dinicu’s Hora staccato isn’t named. Gimpel’s staccatos are crisp and incisive and the whole piece is full of gypsy swagger and eastern promise.
The second disc houses three concertos, those of Sibelius, Mozart No. 5 and Glazunov. Dated 21 April 1956 and partnered by Eugen Jochum at the helm of the Berlin Philharmonic, the Sibelius is an epic reading, evoking Nordic chill and set against a background of rugged landscapes. Gimpell brings out the slow movements brooding and introspective qualities, whilst the finale dazzles with frisson and fearsome virtuosity. Jochum supports with rhythmic drive and power.
Gimpel joins forces in 1967 with the West German Radio Orchestra under Robert Benzi for a sunny and upbeat performance of Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 ‘Turkish’. All involved bring sparkle and energy to the opening movement. The slow movement is a fervent rendering of refined elegance, whilst spirit and exoticism abound in the Turkish finale.
We travel back to 1949 for the Glazunov Concerto, where Gimpel performs with the ABC Concert Orchestra directed by Josef Stepal. Gimpel projects a rich, warm tone throughout, and he paints this richly tinted canvas with myriad hues. He invests the slow movement with rhapsodic intensity and lush lyricism. The finale positively sparkles with biting double stops and gleaming pizzicatos. Stepal offers admirable support along the way.
There are certainly no problems with the sonics. These live documents are both valuable and deserving of attention, further bolstering the artist’s discography. Anyone unfamiliar with Gimpel’s work and keen to explore will find this collection as good a place as any to begin their journey. I’m certainly looking forward to the arrival of Volume 2.
Stephen Greenbank
Previous review: Jonathan Woolf
Contents
Dinicu, Grigoras
Hora staccato
Glazunov, Alexander
Violin Concerto in A minor, op.82
Kreisler, Fritz
Praeludium and Allegro (in the style of Pugnani)
Tambourin chinois, op.3
Lalo, Edouard
Symphonie espagnole in D minor, op.21
» I Allegro non troppo
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Violin Concerto no.5 in A major, K219 'Turkish'
Paganini, Nicolo
Caprices (24) for solo violin, op.1
» no.24 in A minor (arr. Auer)
Sarasate, Pablo de
Spanish Dances (2), op.21
» no.1 Malaguena
Spanish Dances (2), op.22
» no.2 Jota Navarra
Zigeunerweisen, op.20
Sibelius, Jean
Violin Concerto in D minor, op.47
Wieniawski, Henryk
Polonaise brillante no.1 in D major, op.4
Scherzo tarantelle, op.16
Violin Concerto no.2 in D minor, op.22
Other artists
Richard Bechmann (piano)
Karol Gimpel (piano)
Martin Krause (piano)
ABC Concert Orchestra
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
West German Radio Orchestra
Participating conductors
Roberto Benzi
Bronislaw Gimpel
Eugen Jochum
Josef Stepal
Earl Wild
