Sibelius - Violin Concerto /De Falla - Nights in the Gardens of Spain

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Starring: Maxim Vengerov
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Type: DVD
Studio: Arthaus Musik
Release Date: 2000-08-01
Sibelius's solitary concerto is one of the most passionate tests for the violin virtuoso, one to which Maxim Vengerov is more than equal. He captures the work's passion and its occasional quirky patches of the spookily sublime. His performances of the "Sarabande" from the Bach Second Partita and the "Ballade" from Ysaye's Third Sonata are admirable encores demonstrating his range and his elegant control. Daniel Barenboim's piano performance of the de Falla Nights in the Gardens of Spain is equally virtuosic, bringing out the work's structure as well as its local color. Placido Domingo's conducting is solid and serviceable. Barenboim ends the concert with three de Falla orchestral showstoppers--the "Farruca" from The Three-Cornered Hat and the "Magic Circle" and "Ritual Fire Dance" from Love the Magician. The Chicago Symphony perform throughout with their usual vigor and fine orchestral color, but are particularly remarkable in these three encores. --Roz Kaveney, Amazon.co.uk

Sibelius as Sibelius would have wanted it
Sibelius was a failed virtuoso violinist. He poured his love for the violin into this concerto, which is full of difficulties beyond his own ability as a performer. It is a virtuoso concerto in the Romantic tradition, and in Vengerov it has found the ideal interpreter. Whether or not you find the visuals off-putting is a matter of personal taste (I don't mind them, while I can't stand Joshua Bell's affectations). For me what makes this an outstanding performance is Vengerov's uncanny ability to play the music like he owns it, like he means every single note in every single phrase, and thereby honoring Sibelius's idea of what a violin can do better than Sibelius himself could manage. Personal taste aside, that's *compelling*.

AND... as if that weren't enough, he throws in not one but two encores, Bach's Sarabande and Ysaye's Ballade, that he plays with just as much gusto. Difficulties melt away and the music just comes across, raw and full of power. I admit I'm biased--I think Vengerov is the most dynamic young player alive--but really, if you're a violinist or a fan of violin music, you owe it to yourself to see it and then make up your own mind.

A little disappointed with Maxim's Sibelius
I watched this DVD through a slightly compressed file on a computer, but since the sound quality was very good, I suppose I could still give the performance a very fair judgement.

I'm a fan of Vengerov in general, and I greatly enjoyed the da Falla works which I had not heard before. The CSO sound was also excellent. Now for the Sibelius though, I have to disagree with most of the other reviews, as his interpretation just didn't seem convincing to me. Live performance aside, I've listened to a handful of recordings of the piece, and I've even watched the videos of Oistrakh and Ferras. While I'm open-minded about different interpretations (I like both Heifetz and Mutter's versions, for example, which are night and day), I think any good performance of the Sibelius has to depict that vast, icy and angular landscape with a fiery passion underneath it. There is a huge amount of tension that must *sustain* throughout the first as well as the third mov. The problem with Maxim's interpretation is that he phrases it like an ordinary romantic concerto. The tension/passion goes all out every few phrases; His rhythm, tone, accents etc feel way too mellow to portray the unwieldy atmosphere. This is a good DVD, but if you want the best of Vengerov, or the best version of Sibelius (try Camilla Wicks if you can find the LP), I'd say there are other places to look at.

Not exactly what I had expected
I got this DVD because I was really interested to see Vengerov whom I had not seen before, plus Sibelius Violin Concerto is one of my favourite pieces. However I was rather disappointed. Of course he gave a very high level performance of the piece but I wouldn't describe it as a wonderful one. I actually enjoyed his encores of Ysaye and Bach much more. The impression I got while watching was "wow, it is a very difficult piece but he's managing it! Kind of rough in the last movement though. Especially the scales of thirds". It is especially unpleasant to see Vengerov plays. Looks like playing the violin is a very hard thing to do (well, of course it is impossible to play the violin but you might not want to show it). Vengerov may visually appear rather impressive to some people but if you have even seen Vadim Repin, Shmuel Askenazi, or Itzhak Perlman play, you will understand why I am not so crazy about Vengerov. But anyway, what do I know? He is undoubtledly a very fine violinist.

Maxim Vengerov, a master pays tribute
The Sibelius Concerto was written to stir your soul and Mr. Vengerov has acheived the ultimate translation with this work on DVD. A master of technique with this much sensitivity is very rare in the realm of today's virtuosi. A very good performance from the Chicago Symphony (considering many orchestral players become bored with this Concerto due to lack of participation). Mr. Barenboim keeps the ranks in check through most of this work. A "must have" for any violinist.

Maxim Performance
Incredible performance. Great video. Great audio. Except for Vengerov's ugly coat this DVD is perfect. Check out his encore of Ysaye's third violin sonata. It really brought the house down. You can see his musical evolution here compared with his other DVD performance of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto done 7 years earlier. Also interesting to see Placido Domingo filling in as conductor while Daniel Barenboim performs the DaFalla piano concerto.