Despite a long musical career, almost all of Joseph Joachim’s compositions are early works, steeped in the conservative style of Schubert and Schumann. For years I thought that he composed a single violin concerto, the so-called “Concerto in the Hungarian Style”, but a timely reminder from a couple of fans of the composer set me straight: he wrote three violin concertos, the “Hungarian” being the second. It’s all the stranger, then, that several recent recordings have appeared featuring his non-concerto symphonic music. These works, as the two overtures here clearly demonstrate, lack both melodic distinction and formal ingenuity. In short, they’re boring, a fact that has nothing whatsoever to do with the quality of the performances, which are thoroughly professional.
It would seem, however, that both the “Hungarian” and the Third Violin Concerto are another story entirely. Writing for his own instrument seems to have given Joachim an inspirational boost. While hardly notable for originality of idiom, this last of the three violin concertos sounds lovely. The first movement is the weakest: an uninterrupted stream of melody from the soloist pitted against the orchestra, it both lacks contrast for its length and presents intonational hurdles that Takako Nishizaki does not always surmount (it’s not entirely her fault: she’s placed way too close to the microphones). However, after a slightly rough opening she settles down nicely and sounds progressively more comfortable as the work proceeds. The second movement, an impressive elegy to one of the composer’s friends and a genuinely moving experience, finds both solo and orchestra in fine fettle, while the finale sounds exactly as requested: “giocoso ed energico, ma non troppo vivace” (jolly and energetic, but not too fast). A lovely work then, well performed, and who cares if the finale’s main theme comes straight from the first movement of Schumann’s Piano Concerto?
