Commentators frequently remark on the enormous difficulties contained in the solo part of the Brahms Violin Concerto. But for the non-violinist, said difficulties can only be guessed at, especially when listening to a highly accomplished performance. Well, guess no more, violin fans: Thanks to this new recording by Vasco Barbosa, you can get a real sense of just how hard this sucker is to play! Brahms’ murderously wide leaps and tricky double stops (which sound reasonably negotiable in the hands of Heifetz, Oistrakh, Perlman, and Mutter) engender their proper awe as Barbosa hits them with all the accuracy of a drunken darts-player. Combine this with Barbosa’s dentist’s drill tone and variable intonation (on the violin there’s an intergalactic gulf between “in tune” and “not quite”) and you get a sense of what the early performances of this piece must have been like. (How’s that for authentic?)
Barbosa’s expressionist rendition of the cadenza, with its jolting dynamic extremes, adds a distinctly modernist twist on Joachim’s invention. The slow movement at least allows Barbosa a moment to breathe (and apparently a chance to retune as we listen), but the finale throws him back into the thicket, where he’s mercilessly ensnared in the music’s barbs and briars. (Hey, it’s not every concerto recording that has you sweating as much as the soloist!) Fritz Rieger and the E.N.R. Symphony provide a swiftly moving backdrop for Barbosa’s struggles, while the harsh and glaring recorded sound adds an element of sonic strain to the whole proceeding. Under these circumstances, the disc’s miserly length (37 minutes) is a blessing.
