The first time I ever heard of Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto in G Minor was when I was in high school, when I was playing time-keeper for a music competition. I watched an 11-year-old Korean girl play the 3rd movement flawlessly. Technique, tone, tempo – all of it (at least to me) was perfect. I would like to believe she went on to win the school-wide inter-scholastic competition. What she missed, though, was emotion. It was mechanically flawless but a little wanting of soul. Perhaps it was her youth.
These judgments, however, are clearly only my humble opinion. I don’t claim to offer any authoritative criticism whatsoever. It’s funny though, what people have to say about musical performances. Some people are experts, others amateurs. Some people just judge based on emotion. Some don’t offer any sort of productive feedback at all. Me – I can only base things on what I like, really.
So here are my two cents on five performances of the 3rd movement of Bruch’s Violin Concerto in G Minor presented on YouTube. I try not to read the comments until I’m well into the performance, so I can get my own impressions. I find that I tend to agree with the general gist of some comments, though others I am keenly against. Furthermore, I am in no way, shape or form claiming that I can play even close to 1/1000 as well as how these people play – I just know what I like to see and hear. And, maybe to some extent (I say guiltily), I like what adheres a little more closely to the breathtaking and masterful Itzhak Perlman (with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andre Previn) recording I grew up with. Either way, I’ve tried to take these pieces on their own merit. The sample is taken from YouTube (which is the easiest access I have to many videos/recordings in one sitting) and is in no way, shape or form random. I just picked the ones that I found were nice to hear and see. So much for the disclaimer.
Without further ado…
Alice and a Community Orchestra. Our first soloist is a young lady named Alice, who was in 8th grade at the time of the recording. A community orchestra… tries… to back her up. For all the clamorous noise the orchestra makes (it sounds like what an orchestra made entirely of me would sound like), Alice carries the performance. Flat entry, and rough round some edges (like some of the double stops), with a few tempo issues (rushing in some places more than my ear likes to hear), but I find that despite her youth she seems to project the kind of emotion that goes with the piece. I feel like it borders on arrogance, though, but that could just be me. Of course, if I were her and I were forced to perform with an orchestra like that, I’d have rolled my eyes to last Tuesday. (“Hungry cow orchestra”!!! It’s SO TRUE! Listen for the brass section…)
My last word: The girl’s got potential.
Yang Xi and the Raleigh Symphony Orchestra . The problem with this, I think is the recording. Yang Xi’s violin comes in too soft. But from what I hear, I quite like his tone and tempo, where he pauses and sways just so at the right places (“play like you breathe” someone advised a violin YouTuber). For what it’s worth, I also like that he doesn’t overexpress. The performance doesn’t strike me, though.
My last word: Good, but doesn’t grab.
Menuhin and orchestra conducted by Ferenc Fricsay. Lord Menuhin is as solid as a rock. The rich tones that float from his instrument have that good, old-fashioned timbre, and his tempo, while I feel is rushed in some places, is an inhale-exhale that fits the song most of the time. You might expect a bit more constancy from Menuhin, though, in terms of technique. Meanwhile, he is as grave and staid as you’d expect from a lord outwardly, but his emotions come out in his music; the movement, the strength and the tenderness of the piece don’t show on his face as much as in the notes that emanate from his instrument.
My last word: Solid.
Kyung Wha Chung and the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andre Previn. Holy wow. A unique performance like raw soul and teeth set on edge. This is the first agitated interpretation I have ever seen or heard of this piece, like it won’t really let you get comfortable in your chair. But the expression in her movements and on her face fit the temporal interpretation to a tee, and as much as you feel like you’re not in your own skin you really have to keep your eyes peeled and your ears open so you don’t miss a single delightful jump Korean violinist Kyung Wha Chung puts on the piece. Great dynamics. She crouches on a whisper and jumps on a shout. It’s a cookie-cutter buster, and technically wonderful too – tone, timbre, everything. She rocked the passage just right at around the 3:30 mark. I don’t have any complaints about tempo because this is a clear personal take on the piece. Kudos to Previn and the orchestra for keeping well in pace with their soloist! (And yes, Previn does remind me of Austin Powers…)
My last word: Wow – a performance that kept me on the edge of my seat and took me for a proper ride.
Silvia Marcovici. I have to be honest. I didn’t watch this because the thumbnail did not interest me at all – not sexy enough a thumbnail, with the generic-looking woman in a clip that might have been recorded in the 80’s. But when I let it load and play, I said – okay, this is it. Unfortunately, the video doesn’t start from the beginning, and spends a few minutes at the end in applause, but it gives me enough to go on. This Romanian violinist left me breathless. She hit the nail on the head in the technical aspect. Timbre and tone were vibrant off of good, solid wood. All of this was already a given, really. Her pace, to me, was perfect (and I’ve just now discovered that I’m quite the stickler for tempo, at least when I’m listening to other people play) as she lunged and swayed on enough sweetness with which to fill a pot of honey. She and her orchestra blended as one. Her expression cradled and pushed and danced this piece all the way through to the end, with a bit of gravity here, the tender furrow of a brow there, the dip and the flourish pounding the final notes into the air to hang, suspended until they dissolved among the applause of the audience.
My last word: Winner.
So I end this, then, with a little bit more on Silvia Marcovici, and the performance about which I so shamelessly raved:
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