Three pieces for violin and orchestra make a fascinating journey into the final years of Robert Schumann (1810-1856), thanks to wonderful performances by violinist Anthony Marwood, conductor Douglas Boyd and the BBC Scottish Symphony.
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The 13th volume in Hyperion’s Romantic Violin Concerto series features the little-known Violin Concerto in D minor, written in the fall of 1853, a few months before Schumann tried to commit suicide. It was the last orchestral piece he wrote.
The other two pieces are the well-loved Phantasie in C Major, Op. 131, and the composer’s own transcription of the Op. 129 Cello Concerto for violin.
Schumann was increasingly mentally unstable and very unhappy in the 1850s. His wife Clara and friends Johannes Brahms and Joseph Joachim decided that there were certain pieces of Schumann’s music that were best left unpublished, including the D minor concerto.
But, as Laura Turnbridge writes in the album notes, two of Joachim’s violin-playing great-nieces received a ghostly message that the concerto should get published, so they found it in the Prussian State Library and were able to arrange its premiere for Joseph Goebbels in 1937.
It was helpful to have a new Romantic violin concerto to offer in a country that had banned the music of Felix Mendelssohn because of his family’s Jewish roots.
Meanwhile, Yehudi Menuhin became an advocate, performing it in the United States and declaring it an essential bridge between Beethoven and Brahms.
Thanks to this excellent recording, it’s clear Menuhin was making a sound case for the three-movement work. There is boldness in the first and last movements and sweet repose in the middle.
Marwood is one of the world’s great violinists, able to tease a rainbow of hues and dynamic nuances from his bow.
The violin transcription of the Cello Concerto changes the piece completely. The notes haven’t changed; they are merely transposed up an octave, sometimes two. This takes the solo line out of the main orchestral texture into its own space, creating a much more classic concerto sound.
And the Phantasy is a lyrical, virtuosic treat, with its ever-shifting moods and keys.
There’s a lot to enjoy and ponder in this excellent album — including conductor Douglas Boyd’s tough-and-tender touch on the podium.
For all the details on this album, click here.
John Terauds
- Classical Music 101: What Does A Conductor Do? - June 17, 2019
- Classical Music 101 | What Does Period Instrument Mean? - May 6, 2019
- CLASSICAL MUSIC 101 | What Does It Mean To Be In Tune? - April 23, 2019
