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Max Bruch [1838-1920] VIOLIN CONCERTO NO 1 IN G MINOR, OP. 26
ALEXANDRE DA COSTA - VIOLIN Recorded live at : FESTIVAL CLASSIQUE DES HAUTES-LAURENTIDES |
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VIOLIN CONCERTO NO 1 IN G MINOR, OP. 26
When he was still a young man of 28, Bruch set out to write a violin concerto, a genre over which the great Paganini cast a shadow. Bruch however was no longer a neophyte as far as composition was concerned, as shown by his opus 26. He wasn’t yet 20 when he wrote his opus 1, the Schrerz, List und Rache Opera (Wit, Ruse and Anger) with many achievements already to his name: an ambitious septet, a symphony, a string quartet.
While music director in Koblenz, he composed a concerto between 1865 and 1867. It was the work of an artist on which all Germany counted on, admiring his harmonic force, his mastery of counterpoint and his skill at orchestration. Although Bruch doesn't feel much affinity with the New German School of Liszt and Wagner, he isn't as conservative as some say.
In this first concerto a dozen years older than Brahms', he shows great originality in both form and writing. Firstly, the first movement isn't really a movement per se: Bruch calls it Vorspiel (Introduction), a vast page where rhapsodic improvisation and lyrical outbursts mingle. The perfect opposite of the substantiality traditionally required for the first movement. This long and developed introduction is linked to the second movement, an Adagio which begins once again with an introduction before getting to the core as such.
Magically, Bruch manages to withhold the listener's attention. Instead of the usual first important theme and the second complementary one, he reverses the roles as the soul of the violin pours out at the onset of the second subject. A man of taste and balance, Bruch however avoids the excessive expansiveness and cheap sentimentalism that were so commonplace at the time. This will to withhold the weight of a work until the end which characterizes a certain late romanticism is crowned with the appearance of the final rondo. This is the movement that brought fame to this work, one of the favorite pages of both violinists and the public.
Once again, Bruch has the knack of delaying the outcome of the themes' evolution until the second verse, when the melody that brought eternal fame to this concerto is heard. His virtuosity therein shines both dazzingly and electrifyingly. This does not mean that previous pages were easier. Rather, all violinists admit that the first two movements hide the greatest traps. However, they remain hidden to the listener by the sheer beauty of the music as in the Finale, everyone is entitled to his explosion of life and joy.
The concerto's indestructible popularity had a somewhat detrimental effect on the rest of Bruch's works. While so many musicians wanted it to be part of the programme, Bruch always insisted, too often in vain, that his other pieces be played. What matters now is the genuine pleasure of endless rediscovery. --- Pierre Vachon