Composer: Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann
Performer: Renaud Capuçon
Orchestra: Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Conductor: Daniel Harding
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Erato
Catalogue: 5456632
Release: 2004
Size: 295 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64
01. I. Allegro molto appassionato
02. Andante – Allegretto non troppo
03. Allegro molto vivace
04. Schumann: Violin Concerto in D minor (1853) Op. posth.: I. In kräftigem, nicht zu schnellem Tempo
05. Schumann: Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. posth.: II. Langsam
06. Schumann: Violin Concerto in D minor (1853) Op. posth.: III. Lebhaft, doch nicht schnell
In every way but one, the coupling of the violin concertos of Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann is perfect. As men, they were friends and, as composers, they were colleagues. Together they defined what it meant to be a German composer in the 1830s and 1840s. And while one would think that couplings of their violin concertos would be a staple of the classical recording industry, in fact, they are rarer than recordings of the Opus Clavicembalisticum. And the reason for this is the inescapable fact that while Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto is the greatest work of its kind written after Beethoven and before Brahms, Schumann’s Violin Concerto is one of the last and the least of the works of the composer as he succumbed to syphilitic insanity.
Thus, in every way but one, this recording by violinist Renaud Capuçon with Daniel Harding conducting the Mahler Chamber Orchestra is successful. Capuçon has the technique and the temperament to play Mendelssohn’s Concerto with heart and soul. Harding has the control and the command to accompany Capuçon without upstaging him. The Mahler Chamber Orchestra has the talent and tone to make every note of its accompaniment count. But there is nothing any of the players can do with the drab and dreary Schumann Concerto as it winds its weary way into madness. Virgin’s sound places the performers in a small hall with the violinist standing just to the left of center and about 25 feet away.