Friday, July 18, 2025

From Canada...

 

SACD cover of Violin Concertante Works by Sibelius from James Ehnes on Chandos
... with Love.

With the Sibelius Violin Concerto in D minor, one wonders if the soloist will be overtly Romantic or more distant from an emotional perspective.

I think Canadian violinist James Ehnes drives right up the center. He offers virtuosic fireworks while not really plunging deep into the more sentimental portions, yet still provides a lovely warm vibrato and tone.

Certainly, Ehnes takes his time with the many cadenzas in the first movement, where Edward Gardner and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra prefer to forge ahead when they appear. Having recently heard Jascha Heifetz and Zino Francescatti (with Bernstein), Ehnes' is a less determined approach.

For example, I notice Ehnes really zeros in on the semi-quavers early on in the first movement, nearly making them stand aside from everything else around it, a very self-conscious choice. As always, James Ehnes is a smart, intelligent musician with a love of music, ably felt through the beauty of the second movement and the sheer joy and showmanship of the third movement.

The Violin Concerto itself is a little rhapsodic for my tastes, despite its deservedly high profile. I would rather the music get down to business, but it stops and starts a fair bit more than I prefer. Thus, here the concerto is more of a dessert for me, while I look at the many violin concertante goodies on the rest of the program.

I love the solemnity in the Earnest Melodies. Whereas a lot of this music from Sibelius is modal and folksy, here are two short, serious, oaken creations for the masses. It is a pleasure to have another musical 'character' from the harp in the first of these songs as well. The Six Humoresques, both opp. 87 & 89, take on a variety of musical moods and atmospheres, from witty or bucolic, to full of romance or melancholy, as well as joy and reckless abandon. Plus, Sibelius wanders a little further afield harmonically across these six musical settings.

While many find the Suite in D minor rather slight, I enjoy its three distinct personalities, full of personable slice-of-life charms. The two Serenades are meatier compositions, standing out amongst the many concertante miniatures offered here.

In these 13 tracks of extras, I do wish Ehnes would add a little wit and greater modulation of approach amongst his inherent silvery songfulness and special technical abilities, the indisputable stars across this recording.

The soundstage is very wide on this SACD. I completely missed hearing the opening strings and had to go back and juice-up the volume and listen again. The quiet end, especially for the orchestra, is almost too soft at times. Of course, the soloist is heard above everything else, where only a few times did I wish a firmer balance for the orchestra alongside the violin.

As far as I know, there are only two recordings of the 'complete' violin concertante works appearing on one disc, although there are others which come close or spread them across multiple releases. Besides this Chandos recording, Christian Tetzlaff performs this exact same program on Virgin, although they arrange the music in Opus order - not so here. The biggest leg up for Chandos is their lovelier sonics, and depending on how you like your Sibelius played, Tetzlaff is one of the more emotionally distant performers in this music. In this case, I prefer the warmth of Ehnes, even if he would not be considered as heart-on-sleeve either.

I think I might be the only one not head-over-heels in love with Ehnes' Sibelius Violin Concerto. I wish the violinist had a picked a more distinct personality, although no one in their right mind would ever call this a bad or even mediocre performance. Simply, not my favorite one... for now.

 

SACD back cover of Violin Concertante Works by Sibelius from James Ehnes on Chandos

 

 

 

Work
Violin Concerto, op. 47 (31.09)
Serenades, op. 69 (11.47)
Earnest Songs, op. 77 (8.03)
Humoresques, op. 87 (5.56)
Humoresques, op. 89 (14.25)
Suite in D minor, op. 117 (7.57)

Performers
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra

Edward Gardner, conductor

Label
: Chandos
Year: 2024
Total Timing: 79.17

 

 

 

 

Despite the many plaudits regarding James Ehnes' reading of Sibelius' Violin Concerto, it remains too middle-of-the-road for me. He even looks approachable, yet rather unsure on the cover!

They might not be masterpieces, but my interest lies in the many violin concertante pieces Sibelius wrote, the Suite coming from the very end of his career as a composer.

The very wide Chandos SACD soundstage may have you adjusting the volume every once in a while to get the full feel of the orchestra.

 

 

 

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