Édouard Lalo; Pablo de Sarasate; Max Bruch - Violin Concertos (Renaud Capuçon)

Information

Composer: Édouard Lalo; Pablo de Sarasate; Max Bruch

• (01) Lalo - Symphonie espagnole in D minor, Op. 21
• (06) Sarasate - Zigeunerweisen, Op. 20
• (07) Bruch - Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26

Renaud Capuçon, violin
Orchestre de Paris
Paavo Järvi, conductor

Date: 2016
Label: Erato

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Review

Renaud Capuçon – that silky smooth French violinist – has just turned 40, and this celebratory disc is a good way of announcing it. The pieces, combining Mediterranean flavours with Max Bruch, may seem a strange pick‘n’mix, but they mean a lot to Capuçon, who was 12 when he first tackled them. More importantly, though, they spotlight one of his defining characteristics.

Namely, elegance. There are no rough edges in this take on Lalo’s Symphonie espagnole, nothing that smacks of hard labour. Instead we have a performance full of charm and mischief that emphasises the work’s optimism: the last movement, in particular, is strikingly light on its feet. And while other recent performances have sounded more overtly Spanish, for example Nikito Boriso-Glebsky’s, Capuçon certainly doesn’t lack flamboyance.

But he also has serious things to say. The third movement has plenty of grandeur; and there is depth in the dreamy Scherzando. This violinist is not one for heavy-handed statements; for that you can turn to Alexandre da Costa’s frustratingly slow recording of the piece (Warner Classics, 6/13). Nevertheless, Capuçon, together with the Orchestre de Paris under Paavo Järvi, does a good job of reminding us that Symphonie espagnole is far more than froth.

That seriousness of purpose also marks Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen, which Capuçon and Järvi treat as much more than a filler piece. But a little more depth would have paid off in parts of Bruch’s First Concerto. At times, during the second movement, Capuçon is too much the smooth operator, airbrushing out some humanising qualities. So while you couldn’t ask for a more seductive tone or a more graceful way with phrasing, there’s little of the vulnerability that distinguishes Jack Liebeck’s recent recording or the heart-on-sleeve passion of Vadim Gluzman’s. As a whole, though, this Bruch is compelling, not least because it’s so full of life. The first movement seems to pour out in one heady breath. The last is full of punch and swagger. On the CD’s back cover, French critic André Tubeuf insists that turning 40 ‘gives you wings’. Capuçon, evidently, is reaping the benefits.

-- Hannah Nepil, Gramophone

More reviews:
http://www.classical-music.com/review/renaud-capu-performs-bruch-violin-concerto-no-1
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2016/Feb/Bruch_VC1_2564698276.htm
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2018/Mar/Bruch_VC1_2564698276.htm
https://www.thestrad.com/bruch-violin-concerto-no1-in-g-minor-lalo-symphonie-espagnole-sarasate-zigeunerweisen/1242.article

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Édouard Lalo (27 January 1823 – 22 April 1892) was a French composer. Although Lalo is not one of the most immediately recognized names in French music, his distinctive style has earned him some degree of popularity. Lalo's music is notable for strong melodies and colourful orchestration, with a rather Germanic solidity that distinguishes him from other French composers of his era. His most celebrated piece is Symphonie espagnole, a popular work in the standard repertoire for violin and orchestra. His Symphony was a favorite of Thomas Beecham, while his Cello Concerto is also revived now and then.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89douard_Lalo

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Pablo de Sarasate (10 March 1844 – 20 September 1908) was a Spanish violinist and composer of the Romantic period. Sarasate, who had been publicly performing since childhood, made his Paris debut as a concert violinist in 1860, and played in London the following year. Over the course of his career, he toured many parts of the world, performing in Europe, North America, and South America. Sarasate's own compositions are mainly show-pieces designed to demonstrate his exemplary technique. Perhaps the best known of his works is Zigeunerweisen (1878). A number of works for violin were also dedicated to Sarasate.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_de_Sarasate

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Max Bruch (6 January 1838 in Cologne – 2 October 1920 in Berlin) was a German Romantic composer and conductor. He wrote over 200 works, including three violin concertos, and was best known for his first violin concerto, which is a staple of the violin repertory and one of the most popular Romantic violin concertos. His complex and unfailingly well-structured works, in the German Romantic musical tradition, placed him in the camp of Romantic classicism exemplified by Johannes Brahms, rather than the opposing "New Music" of Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner. In his time he was known primarily as a choral composer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Bruch

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Renaud Capuçon (born 27 January 1976 in Chambéry) is a French classical violinist. He entered the Conservatoire de Paris (CNSMDP) at the age of 14 where he studied under Gérard Poulet, and completed his studies three years later. Capuçon then entered several international competitions and joined some European youth orchestras. At the same time he launched his career as a soloist and chamber musician. He has recorded chamber works of Ravel, Schubert, Brahms, as well concertos for violin by Schumann and Mendelssohn. Capuçon plays a Guarnerius, the "Panette" of 1737 that had belonged to Isaac Stern.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaud_Capu%C3%A7on
http://www.renaudcapucon.com/

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