Robert Schumann - Violin Concertos (Ulf Wallin)

Information

Composer: Robert Schumann

1. Concerto in A minor for violin and orchestra: I. Nicht zu schnell
2. Concerto in A minor for violin and orchestra: II. Langsam
3. Concerto in A minor for violin and orchestra: III. Sehr lebhaft
4. Fantasy in C major for violin and orchestra, Op. 131
5. Concerto in D minor for violin and orchestra: I. In kraftigem, nicht zu schnellem Tempo
6. Concerto in D minor for violin and orchestra: II. Langsam
7. Concerto in D minor for violin and orchestra: III. Lebhaft, doch nicht schnell

Ulf Wallin, violin
Robert-Schumann-Philharmonie
Frank Beermann, conductor

Date: 2011
Label: BIS
http://bis.se/performers/wallin-ulf/schumann-complete-works-for-violin-and-orchestra

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Review

Second outing of the month for Schumann’s Concerto

Schumann’s Cello Concerto, Op 129, is enjoying something of a vogue among violinists at present. Schumann made the arrangement, presumably for Joseph Joachim, so it has authentic provenance. I reviewed Philippe Graffin’s recording in the composer’s anniversary year and there’s another recording by Lena Neudauer (Hänssler Classic, A/10) that I haven’t yet been able to hear. Ulf Wallin takes a whole two minutes longer than Graffin and I suspect he investigates the mysteries of the opening ‘movement’ more deeply. His tone is sweeter and more evenly produced, too.

Turning to the two echt pieces of violin concertante music, the BIS disc comes up against competition from across the Baltic Sea, as Ondine coincidentally bring out a recording of Christian Tetzlaff in the D minor Violin Concerto and the C major Fantasie (see page 56). In both cases Tetzlaff is three or four minutes faster than Wallin; Wallin is more ruminative where opportunity arises, while Tetzlaff is unfazed by the fearsome passagework in the Fantasie. Compare the two violinists’ cadenzas: where Tetzlaff nonchalantly dashes off its finger-twisting difficulties, Wallin is audibly more careful. In the Violin Concerto, both violinists present a fine case for this heinously neglected work (the ‘historical missing link’ between the Beethoven and Brahms concertos, according to Menuhin). Tetzlaff is a touch swifter in the polonaise finale but Frank Beermann and his Chemnitz band for Wallin make a better fist of characterising the Rhenish-like orchestration of the concerto’s accompaniment. Don’t hesitate over either recording of the concerto; the coupling may be your deciding factor, Tetzlaff replacing Wallin’s Cello/Violin Concerto with the ubiquitous (and equally appropriate) Mendelssohn Concerto.

-- David Threasher, Gramophone

More reviews:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2011/Sept11/Schumann_VC_BISSACD1775.htm
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/classicalcdreviews/8681143/Schumann-Complete-Works-for-Violin-and-Orchestra-CD-review.html
https://www.allmusic.com/album/schumann-complete-works-for-violin-and-orchestra-mw0002182321
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Schumann-Complete-Violin-Orchestra-Hybrid/dp/B004ZH35HE

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Robert Schumann (8 June 1810 – 29 July 1856) was a German composer and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era, and left an array of acclaimed music in virtually all the forms then known. Schumann's published compositions were written exclusively for the piano until 1840; he later composed works for piano and orchestra; many Lieder (songs for voice and piano); four symphonies; an opera; and other orchestral, choral, and chamber works. Schumann suffered from a lifelong mental disorder, and died in 1856 without having recovered from his illness.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Schumann

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Ulf Wallin is a Swedish violinist who was born in Växjö and grew up in Linköping. He studied at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm and at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna. He has particular interest in contemporary music and close collaboration with composers such as Anders Eliasson, Alfred Schnittke and Rodion Shchedrin. Wallin has made numerous recordings for radio and television, and recorded over 40 CD recordings for labels BIS, cpo, EMI and BMG. He is professor of violin at the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" Berlin since 1996, and a member of the Royal Music Academy since 2015.
https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulf_Wallin

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