Search - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Maxim Vengerov, UBS Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra :: Mozart: Violin Concertos Nos. 2 & 4; Sinfonia concertante

Ma;ybe Not the Right Guy for the Job

Tom | Toronto,, Ontario, Canada | 05/11/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"No question Vengerov is a superb virtuoso violinist, but his interpretations of Mozart's lovely concertos seem to find him ill at ease or at least uncertain about how to proceed with the material. He just never seems to get quite comfortable, as is evident in the slow movements where his playing of the beautiful melodies never come close to acquiring the required sense of grace and elegance that they should possess. For a performer who so magically mastered the complexities of Shostakovich and Prokofiev, Vengerov has yet to resolve a set of very different challenges in Mozart's far less technically demanding concertos. Great sounding CD, though."

Shallow, dull and poorly conceived

Larry VanDeSande | Mason, Michigan United States | 12/11/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"There was a time when now 32-year-old Maxim Vengerov was thought to be the reincarnation of David Oistrakh. If Oistrakh heard this terrible Mozart musicmaking, he'd not want mention in any such correlation. If your idea of Mozart is to play his solo violin works slowly and to make the composer's early work sound prissy -- as if the young and vibrant Mozart was as sickly and pale-skinned as the mature Chopin -- in oddly framed and heavy-footed textures with Mozart's lifeforce essentially drained, you'll like this recording.



Vengerov conducts as well as plays and, believe me, he is a lousy conductor. Medicore orchestral playing is mated to odd and sloppy phrasing that's often interrupted by transitions that emphasize inappropriately heavy downbeats in dotted rhythm fashion, as if he took 4/4 timing and switched it to 3/4 with three heavy boots stomping the notes.



The conductor's inattention to mediocre orchestral playing is consistent. No section of the orchestra is asked to give much; woodwinds are light, brief and sometimes hidden, horns are plangent and stillborn, and the string playing is just as prissy as Vengerov's solo work. I don't think it's out of class to say this is one of the worst Mozart recordings I've heard in 35 years' listening -- at least of the ones I can recall. There is, to my mind, hardly a redeeming factor about this recording that makes it either pleasurable or desirable.



For Vengerov completists, the sound is OK, he plays all the notes, sometimes well, and the accompanying essay outlines Vengerov's wayward approach to the composer and his music, saying he compares these works to Mozart's early operas. In one of the great moments of irony in the history of written notes accompanying recordings, Vengerov says, "My only indulgence was the style of cadenza." If only, indeed! The UBS Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra, a group of 17-29-year-olds established in 2000, does nothing to save this recording. You shouldn't either."

A Breath of Fresh Air

M. De Sapio | Alexandria, VA | 09/08/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Hearing the Sinfonia Concertante from this disc played on the radio a few months ago, I was instantly mesmerized. This is a fresh, contemporary account influenced by historically informed performance, above all in the importance placed on variegated articulation to convey the meaning of a phrase. The Verbier Orchestra is a group of appropriately Mozartean dimensions: the strings use fast bow speeds and minimal vibrato, resulting in fresh, transparent textures and a warm, glowing sound. As violinist, Vengerov produces a gossamer tone that is perfect for Mozart. He and violist Lawrence Power achieve an amazing symbiosis: in the andante they sustain a dialogue of lacerating dramatic intensity, and elsewhere they trill in unison and weave ringlets of notes around each other with perfect synergy. As conductor, Vengerov has the orchestra experiment with bold dynamics and accents, bestowing freshness and pungency on every phrase. One notices too the attention given to Mozart's accompanimental figures: they all sound different and meaningful, from the throbbing oboes at the start of the SINFONIA's andante to the burbling strings in the andante of the Second Concerto (that movement, by the way is a standout - magically played by Vengerov and the orchestra). I'm at a loss to understand the negative reviews of this disc; it is nothing less than splendid!



(I have to take issue with another customer's remark about the slowness of the first movement of the Sinfonia; considering that the marking is Allegro Maestoso, I think Vengerov's tempo is perfect.)

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