Samuel Barber; Erich Wolfgang Korngold; William Walton - Violin Concertos (James Ehnes)

Information

Composer: Samuel Barber; Erich Wolfgang Korngold; William Walton

• Korngold - Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35
• Barber - Violin Concerto, Op. 14
• Walton - Violin Concerto in B minor

James Ehnes, violin

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra

Bramwell Tovey, conductor

Date: 2006

Label: Onyx

-----------------------------------------------------------

Review

It’s an inspired coupling, as well as a generous one, to have these three high-romantic concertos together. James Ehnes gives superb performances, bringing out their full emotional thrust without vulgarity or exaggeration. His playing has always been impressive on disc, but here he excels himself in expressive range as well as tonal beauty, with expressive rubato perfectly controlled.

The concertos date from the late 1930s and ’40s, and though at such time their romanticism might have seemed outdated, the strength and memorability of the musical ideas in each amply justifies the composers’ stance. In the Barber, Ehnes more than usually brings out the contrast between the first movement – improbably marked Allegro when the impression is of a slowish piece – and the Andante slow movement, strengthening the work’s impact. The Korngold, drawing its striking main themes from some of the composer’s film scores, is just as richly lyrical, prompting from Ehnes some ecstatic playing of the many stratospheric melodies above the stave, using a wide dynamic range with wonderfully delicate half-tones.

The Walton is just as memorable, for unlike most latter-day interpreters Ehnes has taken note of the example of the work’s commissioner and dedicatee, Jascha Heifetz. Where the work is generally spread to well over half an hour, Ehnes takes exactly 30 minutes and the result is all the stronger. This is one of Walton’s most richly inspired works, and Ehnes brings that out strongly, helped by the powerful playing of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra under its music director, Bramwell Tovey. Textures are not always as transparent as they might be but the power of the orchestral playing in all three works adds greatly to the impact of the performances. An outstanding disc in every way.

— Edward Greenfield

-----------------------------------------------------------

Samuel Barber (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer of orchestral, opera, choral, and piano music. He is one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century. His Adagio for Strings (1936) has earned a permanent place in the concert repertory of orchestras. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music twice: for his opera Vanessa (1956–57) and for the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1962). Also widely performed is his Knoxville: Summer of 1915 (1947), a setting for soprano and orchestra of a prose text by James Agee. At the time of his death, nearly all of his compositions had been recorded.

***

Erich Wolfgang Korngold (May 29, 1897 – November 29, 1957) was an Austrian-born composer and child prodigy, hailed as a genius in early 20th-century classical music. He gained early fame for his operas, particularly Die tote Stadt (1920), before fleeing Nazi-occupied Austria in the 1930s. In Hollywood, Korngold became a pioneer of film music, composing lush, romantic scores for films like The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), which won him an Academy Award. He wrote scores for 16 Hollywood films in all, and is considered one of the founders of film music, along with Max Steiner and Alfred Newman.

***

William Walton (29 March 1902 – 8 March 1983) was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include Façade, the cantata Belshazzar's Feast, the Viola Concerto, the First Symphony, and the British coronation marches Crown Imperial and Orb and Sceptre. Walton was a slow worker, painstakingly perfectionist, and his complete body of work is not large. His most popular compositions continue to be frequently performed in the 21st century, and by 2010 almost all his works had been released on CD.

***

James Ehnes (born January 27, 1976) is a Canadian violinist and violist. A protégé of Francis Chaplin, he studied with Sally Thomas at the Meadowmount School of Music and at The Juilliard School. As a soloist, Ehnes has performed with all of the major orchestras in North America, as well as many major orchestras in Europe. He performs on the 1715 "ex-Marsick" Stradivarius. His commercial recordings have won many awards and prizes, including 11 Junos, two Grammies, and two Gramophone Classical Music Awards. He is also is artistic director of the Seattle Chamber Music Society and leader of the Ehnes Quartet.

-----------------------------------------------------------