Henryk Wieniawski; Julius Conus; Henri Vieuxtemps - Violin Concertos (Soo-Hyun Park)

Information

Composer: Henryk Wieniawski; Julius Conus; Henri Vieuxtemps

1. Wieniawski - Violin Concerto No. 1 in F sharp minor, Op. 14: I. Allegro moderato
2. Wieniawski - Violin Concerto No. 1 in F sharp minor, Op. 14: II. Preghiera. Larghetto -
3. Wieniawski - Violin Concerto No. 1 in F sharp minor, Op. 14: III. Rondo. Allegro giocoso
4. Conus - Violin Concerto in E minor: Allegro molto -
5. Conus - Violin Concerto in E minor: Adagio -
6. Conus - Violin Concerto in E minor: Cadenza - Allegro subito
7. Vieuxtemps - Fantasia appassionata in G minor, Op. 35: Allegro moderato - Moderato -
8. Vieuxtemps - Fantasia appassionata in G minor, Op. 35: Largo -
9. Vieuxtemps - Fantasia appassionata in G minor, Op. 35: Finale. Saltarella. Allegro vivace

Soo-Hyun Park, violin
Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz
Nicholas Milton, conductor

Date: 2014
Label: Onyx
http://www.onyxclassics.com/cddetail.php?CatalogueNumber=ONYX4109

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Review

The three concerted works that Soo-Hyun Park has chosen for her collection of virtuoso showpieces by 19th-century romantic violinist-composers aren’t the familiar ones, even by the composers (except for Julius Conus). Henri Vieuxtemps has been represented more frequently by his Fourth and Fifth Concertos, while Henri Wieniawski’s First Concerto has been overshadowed, not only in popularity but critically, by his Second. Michael Rabin spoke what seemed like the last word on the neglected First Concerto in his studio performance in 1954, but his earlier live readings seem almost as vibrant and technically dazzling. Be that as it may, Park has almost as firm a grasp of the work’s violinistic difficulties as had the young Rabin, and at least as sympathetic a command of its impassioned Slavic rhetoric—note the momentary dramatic pauses in the first movement. The movement’s cadenza, according to the story, posed problems in flying staccato, the solution of which taught Jascha Heifetz (supposedly never entirely confident in his own flying staccato) the right way to approach the bowing. Park dodges the bullet, to a certain extent, by emphasizing the passages’ musical content and thus shearing them of the terrors that a more straightforward performance might have occasioned. Angel (presumably) cut some of the tuttis from Rabin’s reading of the movement, a practice then more common than now. (To my knowledge, there still hasn’t been an uncut recording of Carl Goldmark’s Concerto; Gil Shaham’s and Itzhak Perlman’s performances didn’t lie in the same Procrustean bed.) Complete recordings like Park’s, however, expose more orchestral passages to listeners’ scrutiny, and many may find the orchestration in those passages inept enough to place their omission within the realm of artistic integrity—less can be more. Park doesn’t suffuse the slow movement’s simple prayer with the same melting glow as did Rabin; and, if her version of the finale doesn’t dance so lightly as did Rabin’s, her stylistic understanding still enables her to make a sort of solid musical sense of it. 

In the case of Conus’s Concerto, Heifetz provides the model performance that may (along with what many might consider the work’s inherent weaknesses) have discouraged others from taking it up. Just as Park’s poetic sensibility helped her to find her way through the technical mazes of Wieniawski’s Concerto, so here as well she relies on a sort of connatural feeling for the piece to invest its quieter, more thoughtful passages with a wealth of nuance, that makes them function far more vitally than as simple interludes between the fireworks—and she’s deeply touching in the slow movement. Nicholas Milton, the orchestra, and the engineers have provided a firm runway that lifts her solo flights into the air. But not all her solo passages fly—the cadenza sounds reflective and brooding; perhaps in passages like this, Heifetz’s always super-brilliant reading doesn’t take the work’s measure so shrewdly as does Park’s. 

Vieuxtemps’s Fantasia appassionata hasn’t figured so prominently in his discography as have the violin concertos, but it’s a strikingly virtuosic work that displays his predilection for stirring, noble cantilena illuminated by bursting fireworks. Gidon Kremer, who has championed so many neglected works, recorded the piece in 1980 (re-released on CD, Philips 432513). More recently, Viviane Hagner bundled it with the composer’s Fourth and Fifth concertos (Hyperion 67798, Fanfare 34:1); and Misha Keylin, who has recorded all of the composer’s concertos for Naxos, included it in a collection of Vieuxtemps’s shorter works for violin and orchestra ( Ballade et Polonaise, Fantaisie Caprice , and Greeting to America , on Naxos 8.570974, Fanfare 34:2). If Park brought tender sensitivity to both Wieniawski’s and Conus’s concertos, she also attempts to do so here; but the Fantasia may require an approach that’s at least more fibrous if not starchier to make its arching passages soar. Maybe it’s just a sense of grandeur, which Keylin certainly brings to the work—and so, in a way, does Hagner, though Hyperion’s engineers didn’t place her so far forward, and so the grandiloquence of her gestures may not seem so overwhelming to a casual listener. 

Soo-Hyun Park’s performances are certainly personal, and they deserve to be heard not only by collectors of the violin repertoire but by general listeners as well. Warmly recommended across the board. 

-- Robert Maxham, FANFARE

More reviews:
http://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/wieniawski-conus-violin-concertos
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2013/May13/wieniawski_violin_cto1_ONYX4109.htm
https://www.thestrad.com/wieniawski-violin-concerto-no1-in-f-sharp-minor-op14-conus-violin-concerto-in-e-minor-op1-vieuxtemps-fantasia-appassionata-in-g-minor-op35/6601.article

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Henryk Wieniawski (10 July 1835 – 31 March 1880) was a Polish violinist and composer. Wieniawski was considered a violinist of great ability and wrote some very important works in the violin repertoire, including two technically demanding violin concertosthe second of which is more often performed than the first. His L'École moderne: 10 Études-caprices is a very well known work, and his Scherzo-Tarantelle, Op.16 and Légende, Op.17 are also frequently performed. The first violin competition named after Wieniawski took place in Warsaw in 1935, and has been held every five years since 1952.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henryk_Wieniawski

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Julius Conus (1 February 1869 – 3 January, 1942) was a Russian Empire and Soviet violinist and composer. Conus and his two brothers both studied at the Moscow Conservatory under Sergey Taneyev and Anton Arensky. In 1888 he was awarded the Gold Medal, journeying first to Paris, where he played in the opera orchestra, then to New York, becoming concertmaster of the orchestra. During 1893–1901 he taught at the Moscow Conservatory and formed a friendship with Rachmaninov, with whom he gave numerous chamber concerts. He also taught at the Russian Conservatoire in Paris.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Conus

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Henri Vieuxtemps (17 February 1820 – 6 June 1881) was a Belgian composer and violinist. He occupies an important place in the history of the violin as a prominent exponent of the Franco-Belgian violin school during the mid-19th century. The bulk of Vieuxtemps's compositions were for his own instrument, including seven concertos and a variety of short salon pieces. He is also known for playing upon what is now known as the Vieuxtemps Guarneri del Gesu, built in 1741, a violin of superior workmanship. The instrument was later played by noted violin masters like Yehudi Menuhin, Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Vieuxtemps

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Soo-Hyun Park (born 1989 in Seoul) is a Korean violinist. Since 1999 she has attended the masterclasses of Dora Schwarzberg at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna, where she also enjoys teaching. Between 1997 and 2010, she won recognition at numerous national and international competitions. Soo-Hyun Park has appeared as a soloist throughout Europe as well as in China and South Korea. Park was awarded the Prix Groupe Edmond de Rothschild in January 2012, at the Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad.

http://soohyunpark.wix.com/soohyunpark
http://www.onyxclassics.com/artistdetail.php?ArtistName=Soo-Hyun%20Park

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