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OZartsreview |
| Australia's online independent specialist music review journal | |
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OZartsreview |
| Australia's online independent specialist music review journal | |
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| Ilya Gringolts (violin) Reviewed by Neville Cohn |
Violin Concerto No1 in D (Prokofiev);
Humoresques III-VI |
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There is about the violin playing of Ilya Gringolts a marked ability to reveal the emotional essence of whatever he essays. This is wonderfully apparent in the Prokofiev Concerto which, in his hands, flashes into life. A world away from Prokofiev's dissonant oeuvre when, as enfant terrible, he shocked and outraged those who heard his essays in ear-assaulting musical grotesquerie, the first violin concerto caresses rather than bludgeons the ear. The first movement is a treasury of musical marvels, Gringolts' skill in revealing the tender, lyrical essence of the writing quite extraordinarily fine. Certainly, he sounds in his element as he breathes life and meaning into the sweet-toned, songlike measures that introduce the work. Gringolts is no less compelling in the movement's livelier episodes where he gives us emphatically stated rhythms and grainy tone before bringing the movement to a close in ensemble with the principal flute, the violin solo tracing a high-register line that reaches the ear as if filtered through layers of fine silk, an effect no less beautifully achieved in the closing moments of the finale. In the scherzo, a magically on-form Gringolts negotiates the solo line with fantastic nimbleness. There is a quicksilver, spring-heeled fluency that at times assumes a phantasmagoric character, giving way to a far more gritty-toned, stamping, yokelish dance. Even at its trickiest (this is music that only the favoured few have any hope of coming to grips with successfully), there is not the slightest hint of rush, of not being completely up to the music's ferocious challenges. Throughout, in fact, one is left with the impression that heart and mind are functioning in perfect accord. Gringolts has an astonishingly secure bowing technique. It is heard to excellent advantage in the finale. How the solo line soars and whines above the orchestra and how perfectly spun the sustained, high-pitched trills are. There's more magic in the Humoresques that comprise Sibelius' opus 89. Much of the writing of these charming, too-seldom-heard pieces is as intricate as fine Brussels lace - and how beautifully both soloist and the strings of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra respond to the music under the ever-attentive direction of Neeme Jarvi. Humoresque III is a delight, much of it couched in dainty, graceful terms. There's some extraordinarily fine double stopping from the soloist in what comes across as salon music of the first order and demanding the utmost musicianship from all concerned to make its impact. Exquisite expressiveness informs every measure of Humoresque IV in which heart-stopping lifts to the phrase elevate this performance to artistry of the highest category. And the solo line in Humoresque V is a vehicle for Gringolts to demonstrate how secure his intonation is when playing harmonics at the apex of the range. This miniature is the apotheosis of Palm Court music. Sibelius' Concerto is given a performance by both soloist and orchestra on a par with the Humoresques - and that is high praise. © 2005 |
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