John Adams’ Violin Concerto is a fine work, and Chad Hoopes plays it very well, with a big tone and confident intonation. The central passacaglia is particularly imposing, but Hoopes also has the virtuoso chops to give the closing toccata a brilliant run for the money. Throughout, Kristjan Järvi accompanies with equal conviction. This concerto seems to be entering the repertoire slowly and steadily, and it deserves to, particularly as it gives fine modern violinists like Hoopes some really good modern music to play. God knows they need it.
The coupling is problematic. Naïve’s booklet notes suggest–unconvincingly–that the two concertos make apt discmates because they both feature melody. That’s like saying that they both use all twelve notes of the chromatic scale, more than once even. Beyond the fact that these two pieces have nothing in common beyond being violin concertos, Hoopes clearly has a better time with the Adams. Although the Mendelssohn holds no terrors for him, he’s so forwardly balanced against the orchestra that the result sounds genuinely uncomfortable, lacking sensitivity and meaningful dialog between solo and ensemble–particularly as the engineers capture a distinct sniff before just about every entrance.
It’s a pity that the programming couldn’t have been smarter, and the miking more natural. Hoopes is a real talent, and I would be happy to hear him in other repertoire. As it stands, I can only recommend half of this disc, and readers can decide for themselves if that half is worth the cost.
