Works of LALO; SAINT-SAENS; CHAUSSON; RAVEL; TCHAIKOVSKY; WIENIAWSKI- Jascha Heifetz, violin/others – Naxos Historical

by | Mar 14, 2011 | Classical Reissue Reviews | 0 comments

LALO: Symphonie espagnole, Op. 21; SAINT-SAENS: Introduction and Rondo capriccioso, Op. 28; CHAUSSON: Poeme, Op. 25; RAVEL: Tzigane; TCHAIKOVSKY: Serenade melancolique, Op. 26; WIENIAWSKI: Violin Concerto No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 22 – Jascha Heifetz, violin/Stanley Chaloupka, harp (Ravel)/ RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra/William Steinberg (Lalo, Saint-Saens)/ Izler Solomon (Chausson, Wieniawski)/Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra/ Alfred Wallenstein – Naxos Historical 8.111363, 79:01 [Not distr. in the U.S.] ****:
This appears to be a banner year for the reissue of classic Jascha Heifetz (1901-1987) materials, the recorded testament of the violinist who once reigned supreme among devotees of  the fiddler‘s art.  Naxos has assigned veteran engineer and producer Mark Obert-Thorn the grateful task of reviving six fine inscriptions from the latter part of Heifetz’s huge career on record, 1951-1954.
The program opens with Lalo’s famous D Minor Symphonie espagnole (12-13 June 1951), recorded at Republic Studios and the pseudonymous Los Angeles Philharmonic with William Steinberg, a performance of character and brisk articulation, but perhaps too refined in the violin part to capture the gypsy rustic elements in the score. Heifetz plays the abridged version, sans Intermezzo. The suave Heifetz tone works perhaps best in the Andante, which has no especial Spanish connection or thematic orientation.  The Rondo brings a decided sparkle, however; and to hear Heifetz in fast bravura passagework always provides a spectacular luster to any musical experience. The 19 June 1951 Saint-Saens A Minor Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso stands a model of the Heifetz facile negotiation of 32nd notes, breezy transitions, harmonics, octave jumps, and the immaculate maintenance of the 6/8 pulse that throbs in the melodic minor to color the music with a Moorish brush.  Steinberg proves no slouch, either, with his fierce attacks and crisp articulation of the pizzicati and cadential shifts, Heifetz in 2/4 to his 6/8. The staccato up bows are enough to wear any other violinist down, but Heifetz triumphs easily, and Steinberg responds throughout to produce a seamless rendition of a surefire warhorse.
Heifetz complained in one of his UCLA Master Class broadcasts that other violinists played the 189 Chausson Poeme too slowly. His tautly active 2 December 1952 inscription with a prosaic Izler Solomon endures for Heifetz’s clean double stops, the buoyancy of the ascending line over three octaves, his directness of attack, all contribute to a programless drama–ostensibly inspired by a tale by Turgenev–highly sectionalized and consistently ardent. The melodic line becomes  a chorale, alternately meditative, bemused, and frenzied. Ravel’s Tzigane (8 December 1953) still occupied a place in the Heifetz active repertory of the early 1950’s; he would include it in his last recital at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in 1972. A blistering solo introduction yields to Stanley Chaloupka’s resonant harp in tandem with Heifetz’ s slides and angular riffs. Harmonics abound, as do rapid shifts of register and bowed articulation, a gypsy caravan of effects! Alfred Wallenstein tries to keep pace with the febrile Heifetz, but we feel that he’s under a strain. Typically of all of Ravel’s “dance” forms, this one reaches a critical mass and explodes, the shards of melody and rhythm flying in all directions, musical lightning.
Two Slavic pieces end the survey: Tchaikovsky’s Serenade melancolique (29 October 1954) and the Wieniawski D Minor Concerto (5 November 1954). Heifetz moves through the Tchaikovsky with glib felicity and a relatively heavy vibrato. Another glib rendition flows from Heifetz in the Wieniawski, where plastic symmetry seems more the concern than emotional depth. Still, the easy virtues of melodic invention and bold playfulness in the last movement define the Heifetz experience as always, inimitable.
–Gary Lemco

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