This double album contains three masterful Violin Concertos that premiered in 1939. Bartók’s and Walton’s Violin Concertos, the latter a wonderful piece shamefully missing from the regular concert repertoire, requires significant chamber abilities and attentiveness from the soloist and orchestra, and happily, this is one of the highlights of this release.
Take the second movement of Walton’s Concerto as an example. How Kim exchanges music ideas with the woodwind and brass, or the way she adapts her tone and volume to allow the atmospheric orchestration to have just the right effect (3:00 onward, track 2). In the fast-paced segments on all three movements, the violinist shows an impressive technical command, matching past reference performance by Bell, Kennedy and Ehnes. The Münchner Symphoniker with conductor Kevin John Edusei are superb partners, with an assured performance by individual soloists and the string section. Throughout, Kim’s performance is strong, sincere, with a proper amount of warmth that never feels exaggerated, very much in accordance with the character of the piece, which bridges 19th-century romanticism with twentieth-century modernism.
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Bartók’s Second Violin Concerto is given a more lyrical, less revolutionary performance than, say, Patricia Kopatchinskaja’s stormy, sometimes unorthodox version. Here it seems the approach looks back in time rather than looks forward, but in any case, it will win over many listeners for its conviction alone. It’s in the difficult transitions of the first movement that Kim and Edusei are most impressive (6:00 onward, first track of the second CD), where many performances stalls, and here the suspense is highly effective. As in Walton’s Concerto, the technical challenges are met with impressive accuracy. The second movement is, again, direct and almost no-nonsense, yet this gives it additional serenity. In the third movement, Kim finds a good balance between dance-like charm, ironic wit and soberness. This won’t win listeners who are looking for the wild chase of other versions (Tetzlaff, Kopatchinskaja), especially when Edusei and the orchestra adopt a modest take on the chamber-like exchanges, but the performance is so cohesive and played with such conviction, one soon forgets other versions.
Hartmann’s “Concerto Funèbre” for violin and string orchestra is placed between Walton and Bartók. The performance is as dedicated as the two other concertos, this time incorporating more sentimental gestures by the soloist, who is clearly deeply attached to this piece. The intimacy of the smaller orchestration shows another side to Kim and the orchestra, more modest and calm, and the inclusion of this concerto is a generous addition to a superb album. Great recording too, caught on four sessions at the Bavaria Musikstudios Munich. Highly recommended.
“1939“
Walton – Violin Concerto
Hartmann – Concerto Funèbre for violin and string orchestra
Bartók – Violin Concerto No. 2
Fabiola Kim – Violin
Münchner Symphoniker
Kevin John Edusei
Solo Musica, CD SM308
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