You’ve heard of The Red Violin? Well, Pavel Sporcl plays a blue one, part of his pop-star image. I suppose we should be grateful it’s not an electric violin. Okay, call me a cynic. This is an inspired coupling either way: two still relatively unknown (though not so much on disc) violin concertos by two otherwise quite well-known German composers recognized for their luminous orchestration and sensual melodies. The Strauss is a genuine rarity, but it’s really an extremely attractive piece, with the composer’s love of stringed instruments already evident. You can hear the mature composer to come quite clearly in the skittish, quicksilver theme of the finale. Sporcl’s confident, impassioned playing makes an excellent case for hearing the music more often than once very few decades.
Sporcl’s performance of the luscious Korngold concerto is, well, really luscious. The opening theme and subsequent lyrical episodes are taken very slowly, but never to the point of becoming annoyingly schmaltzy. More importantly, in this “violin lover’s” concerto, with its reams of passage-work in double stops, Sporcl’s tone remains attractive, his technique secure. The central Romance sounds just lovely, the finale full of good-humored fun. Jirí Kout and the Prague Symphony accompany as equal partners, and the live sonics are just fine: nicely balanced with very little audience noise. A rewarding release.
