Search - Joseph Joachim, Meir Minsky, SWR Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra :: Joseph Joachim: Violin Concerto No. 3

An intriguing collection of a composer worth discovering

Michael K. | 01/09/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"One of the greatest nineteenth-century violinists, Joachim is best remembered today for his frequent collaborations with Brahms and Schumann, both of whose influences can be heard in the works recorded here. The third violin concerto dates from the 1870s, after he had largely ceased his compositional efforts in deference to his great contemporary from Hamburg. Centered in the bucolic key of G major, the first movement elaborates on a charmingly naive song subject composed by a departed friend, and maintains a thoroughly classical demeanour, right down to some eighteenth-century gruppetti! The violin writing is solidly in the conservative German romantic tradition in terms of embroidered figuration and general avoidance of ostentation. Some influence of Viotti, whose a minor concerto Joachim greatly admired, can also be found in the particular technical devices employed. The c minor slow movement, primarily austere and noble in character, is arguably the strongest of the piece, with some welcome contrapuntal detail in the accompaniment. The finale shows evidence of Joachim's Hungarian background, although it is not musically exploited to the same effect as in his eponymously nicknamed second concerto, overall a stronger work. Bits of Bruch, as well as a tutti passage seemingly taken straight from the finale of the Schumann piano concerto, are pasted together to form something reminiscent of the nationalistic fantasias turned out by numerous Romantic-era instrumentalists.



Takako Nishizaki gives a clean and solid performance, but lacks the determined conviction necessary to make up for the work's deficiencies; in addition, the first movement seems under tempo. The two overtures, with their brooding programatic contents apparently sympathetic to Joachim's expressive language, are dramatic and compelling, and, like all his orchestral music, superbly scored in a manner that might strike us as Brahmsian until we realize Joachim came first (in symphonic writing, at least). The Stuttgart Radio Symphony under Meir Minsky sounds full and robust, without precluding some beautifully delicate wind playing, though more rhythmic inflexion would add momentum to most everything. The recorded sound is pleasant and captures a wide dynamic range, without the artificial forward placement of the soloist one often encounters."