Jascha Heifetz in works of BACH, VIEUXTEMPS & GRUENBERG – Dutton

Jascha Heifetz = BACH; Double Concerto in D Minor, BWV 1043; VIEUXTEMPS: Violin Concerto No. 4 in D Minor, Op. 31; GRUENBERG: Violin Concerto , Op. 47 – Jascha Heifetz, violin/ RCA Victor Chamber Orchestra/ Franz Waxman (Bach)/ London Philharmonic Orchestra/ John Barbirolli (Vieuxtemps)/ San Francisco Symphony Orchestra/ Pierre Monteux (Gruenberg) – Dutton DVS 1919, 76:00 [Distr. by Harmonia mundi] ****:
Dutton assembles what may be construed as three “random” inscriptions by the legendary violinist Jascha Heifetz (1901-1987), restored in remarkably clear sonics for our edification. The 1944 Concerto by Louis Gruenberg (1884-1964) in its recording debut as performed by Heifetz from San Francisco under Monteux (17 December 1945) likely most identifies Heifetz with that whimsical, burnished style that defined his art for almost 70 years. Heifetz commissioned the work so as to have an important modern American work in his active repertory. In the three movements, the Gruenberg sports a flamboyant athleticism, its long first movement Rhapsodic: Moderately often alluding to fellow composers like Erich Korngold. Gruenberg has his own ideas about what constitutes American music, which he compounds from jazz, Native American Indian rhythms, and Negro spirituals. The musical syntax alternates between late Romanticism and French Impressionism, tinged by bluesy riffs. The writing for Heifetz exploits his brilliant agility and shifts of register as well as his capacity for suavely lightning-fast filigree.
The second movement of the Gruenberg, marked With simplicity and warmth, exploits the blues, the aura first dreamily hazy, the Heifetz sound in high relief over strings, harp, and triangle.  The music assumes a jaunty Western “reel” apparel, maybe in preparation for the Saturday night hoe-down of the last movement. In true song-form, the tender song returns, even more magically nostalgic. Slides, modal scales, and raucous clashes of “country” effects make the last movement Lively and with good humour. The music yearns to  become a chorale of sorts, although the rhythmic patter remains proletarian. Monteux has no trouble following Heifetz in the wildly asymmetric patterns, while the SF battery keeps active. A kind of apotheosis marks the last the approach to the unbuttoned coda, with Heifetz passing a kind of “and so my children” moral upon the colorful proceedings that warrant our more than occasional audition of this imaginative concerto.
The transfer of RCA LM 1051, the Bach Double Concerto with Heifetz in both parts under Hollywood legend Franz Waxman (1906-1967) captures what might have been a mere musical “gimmick” (via over-dubbing), which turns out to be a fairly stylish, albeit quick, performance (rec. 14, 19, October 1946).  The Largo ma non tanto enjoys some affecting sincerity of expression in the patented, silken Heifetz style. The lovely, somewhat “Germanic”, Vieuxtemps 1850 D Minor Concerto in four movements has had its exponents in Menuhin, Francescatti, and Heifetz (14 March 1935) with John Barbirolli. Berlioz admired this concerto, and it possesses a happy combination of elegant heraldry and bravura display, not necessarily profound, but innately melodious and formulaically dramatic. Most impressive, the second movement Adagio religioso carries a degree of import that installs the work in our catalogue of memorable concertos. Heifetz attaches his idiosyncratic sweetness to the long melodic periods, and Barbirolli does little to usurp the Heifetz spotlight. While I cannot account for the musical logic behind this odd confluence of musical personalities, it is enough that the violin bow has Heifetz wielding it.
—Gary Lemco