Search - James Ehnes, Mozart :: Mozart: Violin Concertos

Superb Performances of Mozart's Violin Concerti Plus Extras

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 02/08/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In this year of the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth CDs of his music are in full spate like a Rocky Mountain freshet in June. I for one don't mind a bit. I've already reviewed two issues that featured the complete Mozart piano sonatas, and several DVDs of most of his most popular piano concertos, and a box set of CDs and another of DVDs of his most popular operas. And I say, 'Bring 'em on.' Here we have the complete set of Mozart violin concertos featuring one of the rising stars of the violin world, the young Canadian James Ehnes. By coincidence his thirtieth birthday was the same day as Wolfi's 250th, so this set seems inevitable, doesn't it? Furthermore, young Mr Ehnes wrote his own booklet notes and, more important, his own cadenzas for the concerti and other violin/orchestra pieces also included. And those cadenzas are simply marvelous -- perfectly of the classic period and showing Ehnes's virtuosic abilities without being too Romantic in thrust. I enjoyed every single one of them. As I did each performance of the concerti.



Ehnes put together an ad hoc orchestra of mainly Canadian orchestral musicians to accompany him, calling it the Mozart Anniversary Orchestra, conducting them from up front. These are major musicians primarily on the Canadian scene including among others, the concertmaster of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal (Jonathan Crow), the concertmaster of the Oregon Symphony (Amy Schwartz Moretti), and the concertmaster of the Adelaide Symphony (Terrence Tam). Each musician, twenty-seven of them, has a bio printed in the booklet, a nice touch.



On CD1 are the first two concerti, K.207 and K.211, plus three free-standing movements for violin and orchestra, the luscious Adagio in E, K. 261 (one of my favorite Mozart 'arias'), the Rondo in B flat, K. 269 (261a), and the effervescent Rondo in C, K. 373. They get cadenzas, too, where indicated. One quickly recognizes that Ehnes is an elegant player. His tone and manner remind me a good bit of that of Nathan Milstein, high praise indeed.



CD2 contains the three more familiar concerti (Nos. 3-5) in C Major, K. 216, in D Major, K. 218, and A Major, K. 219. Again, elegance and musicianly expression are the hallmarks. The hot young German violinist, Julia Fischer, has just recorded Concertos Nos. 3 and 4 plus the K. 261 Adagio and the K. 269(261a) Rondo (and I reviewed them here at Amazon) and I have to say that Ehnes gives performances that are equally fine. Indeed, even though this isn't a contest, I'd give a slight edge to Ehnes at least partly because of the utterly seamless ensemble he and the orchestra attain. As well, the Canadian orchestra does not lean so heavily on the vibratoless approach that Jakob Kreizberg and the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra do in the Fischer recording.



There are other magnificent recordings of these concerti, of course. Not least are the old favorites by Itzhak Perlman, Arthur Grumiaux, and on the superbudget label Arte Nova, a fine traversal by Pamela Frank accompanied sensitively by David Zinman and the Zurich Tonhalle. Still, I would put these Ehnes performances right up there with the best. I'm eager to hear more of his playing.



Scott Morrison"