Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco; Paul Ben-Haim - Violin Concertos (Itzhak Perlman)

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Composer: Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco; Paul Ben-Haim

1. Castelnuovo-Tedesco - Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 66 "I profetti": I. Grave e meditativo - Allegro appassionato (Isaiah)
2. Castelnuovo-Tedesco - Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 66 "I profetti": II. Espressivo e dolente (Jeremiah)
3. Castelnuovo-Tedesco - Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 66 "I profetti": III. Fiero ed impetuoso (Elijah)
4. Ben-Haim - Violin Concerto: I. Allegro
5. Ben-Haim - Violin Concerto: II. Andante affettuoso
6. Ben-Haim - Violin Concerto: III. Vivo

Itzhak Perlman, violin
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
Zubin Mehta, conductor

Date: 1990
Label: EMI

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Review

Two composers from axis countries who left those countries in the face of fascism: Castelnuovo-Tedesco from Italy to the USA and Ben-Haim from Munich to Palestine. They are represented here by two fairly brief three-movement violin concertos in a tonal-melodic idiom.

In the Castelnuovo-Tedesco we experience the flaming eloquence of the ancient prophets. The composer shows a singing heart at 3.34 and 10.45 in movement I but also there are moments that are jaunty and swashbuckling. A slight sense of glitzy Hollywood overlay and echoes of Rozsa, Bloch and Respighi do nothing to dilute the attractions of this highly coloured music. In The Lament Of Jeremiah second movement there is a memorable quick yearning recurring motif. The finale is a tone poem representing Elijah seemingly a blithe soul by this account and one inclined to carnival and the full gamut of virtuoso display including a few I did not recalling hearing before. After this I would like to hear the first concerto. Has it ever been performed in modern times, I wonder. I'd be fascinated to hear it.

I have not been able to compare this version with the famous Heifetz (BMG-RCA) but this sounds good and with no audience noise except in the well merited explosion of applause at the end.

The Ben-Haim concerto is a compact three movement work written for Zvi Zeitlin in 1960. It's also in an approachable romantic style though less succulently fruity than the technicolor pleasures of the Castelnuovo-Tedesco. The two works do however share a sinuous Middle-Eastern sway and bejewelled orchestration. The Ben-Haim shows more restraint but there are some lovely moments as in the harp and soloist interlude in the first movement. There's a beguiling smiling coolness and honeyed oriental ululation in the andante affetuoso - all in all a very beautiful movement; a sort of oasis Lark Ascending. Treasure indeed. For the finale there's an indomitable acceleration towards a wild conflagration of flaming virtuosity. This carries echoes of Bartok and Enescu, a bluesy haze and the scorch and skirl of the folk fiddle.

Someone should also look over Castelnuovo-Tedesco's two piano concertos, the second of which the composer played with Barbirolli and the NYPO in 1939.

Two rare yet rewardingly highly coloured and intensely cantabile violin concertos. Short on playing time; long on interest.

-- Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International

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Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (3 April 1895 in Florence – 16 March 1968 in Beverly Hills, California) was an Italian composer, pianist and writer. He was known as one of the foremost guitar composers in the twentieth century with almost one hundred compositions for that instrument. In 1939 he immigrated to the United States and became a composer for some 200 Hollywood movies for the next fifteen years. As a teacher, Castelnuovo-Tedesco had a significant influence on other major film composers, such as Henry Mancini, Jerry Goldsmith and John Williams. He also wrote concertos for Jascha Heifetz and Gregor Piatigorsky.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Castelnuovo-Tedesco

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Paul Ben-Haim (5 July 1897 – 14 January 1984) was an Israeli composer. Born Paul Frankenburger in Munich, Germany, he studied composition with Friedrich Klose and was assistant conductor to Bruno Walter and Hans Knappertsbusch. He composed chamber music, works for choir, orchestra and solo instruments, and songs. His compositions are in a late Romantic vein with Middle Eastern overtones, somewhat similar to Ernest Bloch. Ben-Haim devoted himself to teaching and composition, including teaching at the Shulamit Conservatory. His notable students include Eliahu Inbal and Henri Lazarof.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Ben-Haim

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Itzhak Perlman (born August 31, 1945 in Tel Aviv) is an Israeli-American violinist, conductor, and pedagogue. Over the course of his career, Perlman has performed worldwide, and throughout the United States. Perlman has been acclaimed as being among the leading violinists and is the most visible of them in media venues, from recordings and radio broadcasts to television and film appearances. He plays the Soil Stradivarius violin of 1714, formerly owned by Yehudi Menuhin, the Guarneri del Gesu 1743 'Sauret' and the Carlo Bergonzi 1740 'ex-Kreisler'. In 2015, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itzhak_Perlman

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