Search - Jean Sibelius, Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, Andre Previn :: Tchaikovsky, Sibelius: Violin Concertos

Rather run-of-the-mill reading; Chung struggles at times

John Grabowski | USA | 02/04/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I knew it would happen eventually. The project started as the DG Originals series, remastered rereleases of the very finest in Deutsche Gramophone's vaults. The CDs were easily recognizable by their offset covers with the big blue badges in the upper left corner. The idea had been to end at 100 CDs, to mark DG's 100th anniversary, but after they reached this milestone some bean counter or marketer probably said, "Hey, we don't want to have to come up with new ideas to sell classical music, so dig deeper into the vaults and keep it going."



And so they have. And some very ordinary recordings have since been given the "offset" treatment, on all the Polygram labels. When I saw the badge on the cover of Pascal Roge's very mushy recording of Satie's piano music, I knew we were in trouble. It's as if the Good Housekeeping seal of approval no longer had any meaning.



The present CD falls into that "very ordinary" category. There are about a dozen recordings of each work that are better. Previn provides a nice orchestra--he was at his peak with the LSO back in those days, and it shows in the beautiful and incisive wind-playing, the punchy brass, and the bright, singing strings. But Chung struggles. Her playing is often stiff, and when it's not stiff, it lacks color (especially in the Sibelius, which is bland). In the Tchaikowsky, some of the accents are off--she falls behind in mm. 115-116 and winds up accenting the wrong beats. She falls behind similarly in the finale, at m. 566, her entrance after the big orchestral buildup leading to the coda. (Too bad; it's otherwise a highlight of the disc. Previn goes wild here.) At other spots she just sounds stiff--there are a couple, but just a couple, of agogic pauses that make me wonder if they're really hesitations from her, since she doesn't pause elsewhere in similar moments.



I don't mean to sound like a note-counter or to be super-clinical. These notes are actually just illustrations of the more general trend of stiffness I hear. I feel you have to attack the Tchaikovsky VC like a feral cat, like you're fearless. You must fling yourself headlong into it--it's a dazzling display. She doesn't sound that fearless. I feel like the music is playing her, rather than she's playing the music.



The Sibelius lacks the drama and color I expect. Without boring you of a blow-for-blow of that, I'll just say performances by Mullova/Ozawa, Tetzlaff/Dausgaard, Kremer/Muti, Mutter/Previn, Heifetz/Hendl, Heifetz/Beecham and most of all Oistrakh/Rozhdestvensky blow this one out of the water, especially the bland second and third movements. There are many approaches, considering how romantic you feel the work is, from the chilly Mutter to the rhapsodic Tetzlaff; my issue with Chung is I don't hear *any* approach, really.



For the Tchaikowsky, if you like this approach, which I sort of consider to be "Anglicized," the best I've heard has sadly never been issued on CD in the US--Stern/Rostropovich. Rosty's conducting is kind of like Chung's playing in the present recording, a little awkward and clumsy in spots, but Stern more than makes up for it. Stern/Ormandy is similar, but in poorer sound. (Stay away from Mutter/Previn, a real train wreck.) For more Russian interpretations, with octave leaps, plucks and some repeated passages edited out of later versions, I'd recommend Oistrakh/Rozhdestvensky again. For the best Tchaikowsky and Sibelius on one disc, Mullova/Ozawa--and believe me, I know what you're thinking and I'm generally no Ozawa fan either, but it's a very fine recording. (I'm surprised they haven't issued *that* recording on an "Originals" disc. It deserves it.) The present recording is in my opinion vital only if you're a Tchaikowsky or Sibelius VC completist. If you just want great performances in good sound, look into some of the other recommendations above.

"

One of my desert island CDs

S. Baird | Baton Rouge, LA United States | 01/21/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In the 35 years since I first bought a copy of this very great recording I've learned to appreciate the "voice" of many of the world's greatest solo performers as they have performed on the many records, tapes and CDs that have become part of my relatively immense music collection. Kyung Wha Chung was so very young when she made this record, but even then she she showed a remarkable and intense understanding of the fervor that's needed to to evince the soul of these two very famous works. Only Zino Francescatti can evoke a greater sense of the desperation in the Tchaikovsky passages where it's called for, and no one can do so for the Sibelius. Of course, Miss Chung has the able assistance of André Previn and the LSO who convey a greater sense of electricity -- especially in the Tchaikovsky.



I am so happy that the record company has kept this in the catalog. Perhaps there will be others who, after 35 years, can point to this one and say that it, more than many others, has been a source of joy."