GRAMOPHONE AWARDS SHORTLIST 2018

There are so many moments here that bring a smile to a jaded Mozartian’s face: little holdings back, touches of ornamentation, that magical moment in K595’s slow movement where the piano’s song is shadowed only by flute and violins, exquisitely done here. You may be getting the impression that I rather like this record. I wouldn’t (couldn’t) go without recordings by other longtime favourite pianists (two of whom are invoked above); but then, Anderszewski is a favourite pianist too, and his coupling joins theirs without fear of compromise. David Threasher (2/18) Piano Concerto No 25 – selected comparison: Argerich, Orch Mozart, Abbado (3/14) (DG) 479 1033GH Piano Concerto No 27 – selected comparison: Pires, Orch Mozart, Abbado (1/13) (DG) 479 0075GH

Prokofiev ‘Visions of Prokofiev’ Violin Concertos – No 1, Op 19; No 2, Op 63. Cinderella, Op 87 – Grand Waltza. The Love for Three Oranges – Grand Marcha. Romeo and Juliet, Op 64 – Dance of the Knightsa (aarr T Batiashvili) Lisa Batiashvili vn Chamber Orchestra of Europe / Yannick Nézet-Séguin DG F 479 8529 (60’ • DDD)

It was a nice idea to spice a logical Prokofiev concerto coupling with a trio of transcriptions, the musician who crafted them so skilfully Lisa Batiashvili’s father, Tamás. Years ago the Cinderella Grand Waltz was seductively turned by David Oistrakh, part of a sequence of five pieces from the ballet arranged by Mikhail Fikhtengolts. In fact Alto has released a CD featuring Oistrakh’s vintage Melodiya recordings of these jewels alongside the two violin concertos (ALC1318), the First under Kondrashin, the Second under Galliera, wonderful performances all of them, and so full of character. Batiashvili effectively echoes Oistrakh’s warmth and there’s a definite boon in having an orchestral accompaniment securely led by Yannick Nézet-Séguin rather than Yampolsky’s piano, excellent though that is. It was Heifetz who most famously gave us the Love for Three Oranges March on the violin; and although the March of the Knights from Romeo and Juliet works reasonably well – especially in such a powerful performance – by concentrating on a single voice the transcription rather pushes the piece off balance.

But these are just the fill-ups, after all. As to the concertos, Nézet-Séguin cues a fine-spun accompaniment at the start and close of No 1, whereas he, the COE and Batiashvili collude for a carping attack at the centre of the Scherzo, rather like Gringolts and Neeme Järvi do in the same passage. Some tempo changes are quite violent: in the first movement of the First Concerto, for example, at the point where the soloist switches to a wildly strumming pizzicato (6’07” in this context), though I like Batiashvili’s gentle swagger earlier on in the movement. She perfectly captures the music’s sardonic spirit without overdoing the aggression. I also appreciate her freeflowing way with the solo opening of the Second Concerto, her subtle use of portamento and the sweetness of the first movement’s second subject. The bittersweet second movement, which is ideally paced, has an appropriate air of chasteness about it, and as always Nézet-Séguin keeps woodwind lines well to the fore. That said, this admirable trait becomes a mite distracting at 1’33” into the finale of the First Concerto, where the bassoon’s presence is so conspicuous that for a while you’re aware of nothing else, or at least I was. But otherwise I was grateful for having so much detail brought to my attention.

As to selected rivals, I retain a strong affection for Frank Peter Zimmermann with Lorin Maazel in the First Concerto and James Ehnes with Gianandrea Noseda in the two coupled together; but if you haven’t yet heard David Oistrakh in No 1 (preferably the Kondrashin version – Melodiya, 8/63) and Jascha Heifetz in No 2 (under Charles Munch – RCA, 1/61) then, thinking in terms of Prokofiev’s violin concertos, you haven’t lived. Batiashvili is a very fine advocate of both works who lacks just an element of personality. Rob Cowan (3/18) Violin Concerto No 1 – selected comparisons: FP Zimmermann, BPO, Maazel (12/88R) (EMI/WARN) 206860-2 Gringolts, Gothenburg SO, N Järvi (9/04) (DG) 474 814-2GH

Vivaldi The Four Seasons, Op 8 Nos 1‑4. Concertos – ‘L’amoroso’, RV271; ‘Il grosso mogul’, RV208; ‘Il riposo per il SS Natale’, RV270 Brecon Baroque / Rachel Podger vn Channel Classics F Í CCSSA40318 (75’ • DDD/DSD)

It feels slightly unoriginal to begin a review by quoting that old adage,

‘the best things come to those who wait’. However, those words do feel especially pertinent for Rachel Podger’s Vivaldi Four Seasons, which she has finally put on disc in her 50th-birthday year, joined by her superlative one-to-a-part ensemble of fellow period-instrument leading lights, Brecon Baroque. It’s not just that the actual playing is superb: serene virtuoso fluency from Podger, gorgeously supported by her colleagues, with some especially fine chamber matching from violinists Johannes Pramsohler and Sabine Stoffer. It’s also that this is something genuinely, effortlessly and naturally different.

At the nub of this triumph is the thought that’s gone into timbre and balance across the four concertos, because I’ve never heard their every twist and turn served up as quite the succession of changing sound worlds as appears here. Take Spring’s ear-catching central Largo: while Brecon Baroque are hardly the first ensemble to place a spotlight on that barking-dog viola, it’s less usual to hear the solo violin as far back as Podger has been placed, or the viola’s crescendo at the end. It’s then all change again for the final Allegro, Jan Spencer’s violone cranking up the drone effect to especially zinging levels, complemented by the subtlest of peasanty inflections from the violins.

Other notable expressive detailing include the bringing out of Daniele Caminitti’s expressive theorbo-playing in Summer’s opening movement, where also to be savoured are the wistful inflections with which Podger has coloured her tight trills. Also the way shestretches out the central Adagio’s final top G to almost hit the dramatic final-movement thunderstorm, itself brilliantlycoloured with sul ponticello effects. Then there’s the soft organ and theorbo continuo underpinning Autumn’s buoyant, luminously ringing first movement. Or,xperhaps most glorious of all, Winter’s fireside Largo: a luxuriously tactile, tranquil feast of glowing ensemble raindrops whose beauty caught me completely off guard, topped by Podger’s sensitively embellished solo line.

Podger and her team have been generous too, adding three further Vivaldi concertos, all of which have beenrealised with an equal ear to the scorings’ possibilities for timbral flair. Even had they not done, though, this still would have been a Four Seasons to covet and keep. Charlotte Gardner (5/18)

14 GRAMOPHONE SHORTLIST 2018

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