Dvorák: Violin Concerto / Sarasate: Carmen Fantasy

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Free Music Notes for Dvorák: Violin Concerto / Sarasate: Carmen Fantasy

Free Music Review: Superb
Hit: 5 Stars

It is ironic that Dvorak and Sarasate share the disc. Sarasate was known more as a virtuoso violinist than as a composer--essentially, he composed flashy but trite pieces to display his virtuosity; and he treated Dvorak and his work with some contempt. The liner notes tell us that Sarasate said of Dvorak's violin concerto that it was "nothing but pom-pom-pom and old-fashioned form." This reveals more about Sarasate than Dvorak, of course. Where Sarasate wanted flash, Dvorak provided substance instead, and clearly Dvorak's work was far beyond Sarasate's understanding. Of course, much of Sarasate's Fantasy is simple transcription from Bizet's opera. What Sarasate has added is filigree--lovely ornamentation indeed, allowing the soloist to demonstrate their technique with double stops, harmonics, and the like, but nonetheless insubstantial compared to Dvorak's work.

The Dvorak is practically symphonic in scope. It has always seemed to me that Dvorak, rather than Brahms, was the truest successor to Beethoven, that his musical language shares more with Beethoven in terms of dramatic gesture, harmonic and melodic construction, and particularly rhythmic conception. But interestingly, both Dvorak and Brahms wrote their violin concerti for the same performer, Joseph Joachim, and both apparently suffered at his arrogant and heavy-handed input. Dvorak repeatedly revised his concerto, editing it extensively according to Joachim's instructions; ironically Joachim himself never performed the concerto in spite of this. [Dvorak's Cello Concerto had a similar genesis--composed for a strong-willed cellist who did not ultimately premiere it; but in certain instances at least Dvorak rebelled against the cellist's suggestions, being especially adamant that no cadenza be added.] We can only speculate what the piece would have been without Joachim's advice, but certainly it is a masterpiece now.

Dvorák: Violin Concerto / Sarasate: Carmen Fantasy Poster

Sarasate's "Zigeunerweisen" and "Carmen Fantasy" are played with virtuosic flair and idiomatic feeling. The former's gypsy abandon and melancholy sometimes verge on sentimentality, but the latter's passion, fire, and seductive charm almost make it sound like music. Dvorák's "Mazurek" provides the link between the two composers: it is dedicated to Sarasate. It, too, is basically a virtuoso piece, but a lovely, pensive melody intermittently relieves the fireworks. In the Concerto, the first movement is most convincing. The treacherous opening is not only technically perfect, but highly dramatic and rhetorical; the rhythm is rock-steady, yet flexible, and Suwanai brings out its ardent romanticism with great warmth and inward expressiveness. The other two movements feel driven, as if time were running out. The slow one is restless, the Finale downright hectic, though she tries to make the most of the lyrical moments. The orchestra supports her splendidly throughout. The booklet contains much information about the music, but not a word about the violinist. --Edith Eisler

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