“Schlindler’s List” = WILLIAMS: Suite “Schlindler’s List” for violin and orchestra. BLOCH: Suite Hebraique for Violin and Orchestra; Concerto Grosso No. 1 – Alexandre da Costa, violin/ Marc Pantillon, piano/ Orchestre Symphonique Bienne/Thomas Rosner – Atma ACD2 2579 [Distr. by Naxos] ****:
This album presents three romantic works that are connected by a Jewish theme. Movie director Steven Spielberg’s Academy Award winning film, “Schlindler’s List” honored a German entrepreneur who ran a business in Nazi-occupied Poland that made lots of money but saved over a thousand Jewish lives by employing them in a factory. Ernest Bloch is known for writing music that expressed the essence of the Jewish cultural heritage, although he rarely quoted Jewish religious or folk songs in his compositions.
Film composer John Williams has composed over 70 film scores and won five Academy Awards for original film scores, including “Schlindler’s List” in 1993. Williams describes the score: “The film’s ennobling story, set in the midst of the great tragedy of the Holocaust, offered an opportunity to create not only dramatic music, but also themes that reflected the more tender and nostalgic aspects of Jewish life during these turbulent years.” By coincidence, I watched the movie a week ago, and Williams’ main theme lends an air of sadness and nostalgia for the lives saved and lost. There’s enough music of interest, including a funky Jewish dance episode, to make the 15-minute suite an emotional and pleasant listening experience. Producer and recording engineer Johanne Goyette has provided sound of exceptional depth and clarity.
Suite Hebraique for Violin and Orchestra was one of the few instances where Bloch used Jewish melodies, but he also commented, “I have absorbed them to such a point, that is may be difficult for future musicologists to determine what is traditional and what is Bloch.” This 15-minute work, structured in three sections, (Rhapsody, Processional and Affirmation), is an earnest, wistful and passionate statement that sounds Hasidic in its use of melodies. It’s an ingratiating and moving composition that’s superbly played by violinist Alexandre da Costa.
My familiarity of Bloch’s deservedly popular Concerto Grosso No. 1 comes from the classic audiophile Mercury recording by Howard Hanson and the Eastman-Rochester Orchestra, made over 50 years ago. It’s amazing how excellent the sound of that recording (on the CD transfer) is today, with the significant exception of excessive brightness of the high strings. However, Atma’s sound is more spacious and has much greater depth. The piano is also richer and more present. Conductor Thomas Rosner’s interpretation is Romantic, not surprising since the Orchestre Symphonique Bienne specializes in Viennese Classical and Romantic repertoire. If you don’t know this superb work, this performance is a great way to get acquainted. Those who have the Mercury CD may want to add this interpretation, in updated sound, to their collection.
— Robert Moon
