Until now, the recent parade of new Bruch violin concerto recordings has overlooked the somber and dramatic No. 2. This concerto’s unusual ordering of movements and its darkly pensive melodic material (replete with aggressive, Lisztian interjections on the trombones) in many ways is Bruch’s most compelling. Jascha Heifetz was known for his brilliant championing of this concerto, but Aaron Rosand proves he’s also a master of Bruch’s style, both in the symphonically integrated solo line of the first movement (where he floats above the music’s pervasive melancholy), and in the scherzo and finale’s more conventional virtuoso writing, which is made to sound anything but conventional thanks to Rosand’s imagination and musicianship.
The percussive opening of Paganini’s First Violin Concerto establishes the work’s theatrical atmosphere. Indeed, the concerto could be termed “operatic” for its coloratura writing and many “recitative” passages. Rosand’s approach brings to mind the stunning technique of a seasoned bel canto singer as he thrills us with his violinistic acrobatics in the sprawling first movement and (especially) in the finale, with its hair-raising wide leaps that require dead-on intonation. Rosand hits all of these squarely, and what’s more, he’s clearly having fun doing so. The violinist achieves high-spirited musical rapport with both conductors–Richter de Rangenier with the Bavarian Radio in the Bruch, and Pinchas Steinberg with the Saarländischer Radio in the Paganini. Both recordings are well balanced, but there’s greater presence in the Paganini production (taped 10 years after the Bruch, in 1980).
