Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 47/Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 1 in D, Op. 19. Janine Jansen, violin; Klaus Mäkelä, conductor; Oslo Philharmonic. Decca 485 474-8.
Considering how popular these violin concerti both are, it's perhaps a bit surprising how seldom you see them paired on a single-disc recording like this. Granted, they're very different works despite each being highly accessible. But maybe this explains their rare coupling. Success in the one by no means guarantees success in the other, at least in terms of the music fitting the performers' sensibilities. And to be honest, what we have here is a tricky conductor-soloist partnership: both are better in some settings than in others. In these circumstances one could almost predict that success might be occasional and serendipitous, while rightly expecting inconsistency as a norm. Indeed, that is what we get in the form of a bumpy Sibelius and a winning Prokofiev 1.
The Sibelius Violin Concerto here suffers from two things. In order of seriousness, they are: conductor Klaus Mäkelä's continued lack of feeling for narrative shape, and violinist Janine Jansen's heavy-handedness during climactic moments and bursts of passion. I say "continued" in Mäkelä's case because his recent Sibelius symphony cycle (Decca 485 225-6) suffers similarly. He goes from area to area with little apparent understanding of how to mould the work as a whole. He finds lots of neat sounds and little points of interest locally, but rarely does anything ever add up to something greater. The problem might be less pressing in a concerto, but at times it noticeably holds Jansen back. She'll finish a passage of impassioned, virtuosic violin playing, and it will be followed by a tutti that seems minimally to have been aware of it. The result is an odd feeling of atomization, especially in the lengthy first movement. Also, while Jansen is really good in the softer, hushed passages, I often find her tone to be heavy-handed otherwise, with sometimes too much glissandi between pitches. When she plays the main theme of the finale, for example, it sounds too spasmodic and needs to be steadier. The best movement is the second, where softer surroundings limit the effects of either musician's shortcomings.
The reason why the second movement of the Sibelius mostly succeeds in Jansen's and Mäkelä's hands is related to why their Prokofiev First Violin Concerto is a winner. This is a more dreamlike and less monumental work. Its world strikes the listener as a bit more winding despite a shorter overall length. There are many quieter, visionary passages that can be said to mark the whole despite a vigorous yet brief middle movement. These conditions play directly to the strengths of both conductor and soloist. Theirs is what I would call a distinguished reading of this concerto that withstands (if not quite triumphs in) comparison to legendary recordings by David Oistrakh and Maxim Vengerov. Jansen in particular has a special affinity for Prokofiev, and were Mäkelä's and the Oslo Philharmonic's support even less suitable than they are here, she would likely still raise the performance to a fine level. Her soft, high playing is wonderful indeed, and it finds a perfect outlet.
The download/streaming version of this recording includes a performance of Sibelius's very first composition, Water Drops, with Jansen on violin and Mäkelä on cello. It's a neat little curiosity, but adds nothing of consequence to the proceedings.
Highly Recommended for the Prokofiev
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