Although Takako Nishizaki’s accounts of two of Louis (Ludwig) Spohr’s violin concertos are little more than routine, conductor Libor Pešek at least manages to ensure that orchestral support is unusually discreet and sensitive. Collectors interested in the Spohr violin concertos will find that the CPO survey by German violinist Ulf Hoelscher makes a much stronger case for these neglected but ingenious works, which of course were intended to exploit all aspects of violin technique rather than provide audience-pleasing bravura showpieces. Nishizaki begins with Concerto No. 7, one of the most direct and dramatic of Spohr’s 15, but she finds little in it to engage the listener. Most disappointing here is her dull treatment of the lyrically attractive slow movement, which Hoelscher plays more warmly and intelligently, using clever modulations of tone and vibrato to make meaningful musical happenings from its unexpected and adventurous key changes. In spite of Pešek’s watchful accompaniments, Nishizaki is straight-laced and a bit too detached. Hoelscher also takes the rondo finale more briskly and invests its virtuoso passagework with humor and a sense of occasion that Nishizaki never matches. The better-known Concerto No. 12 requires both dexterity and theatrical flair to properly exploit its operatic flavor. Hoelscher plays brilliantly here, though if you don’t want to pay top dollar, Nishizaki’s far less demonstrative performance still has secure violinistic command and serviceable recorded sound in its favor–at less than half CPO’s unit price.
