Dallas Morning News , TX
June 9 2007

Classical Review: Violinists perform Shostakovich powerfully

08:57 AM CDT on Saturday, June 9, 2007

By LAWSON TAITTE / The Dallas Morning News
ltaitte@dallasnews.com

The new violinists keep pouring out recordings of Shostakovich’s
Violin Concerto No. 1. It seems to be the new rite of passage for any
would-be virtuoso.These two recent recordings take very different
approaches, but both are well worth hearing. I was especially
impressed by Sergey Khachatryan’s job on both the first concerto and
the much less popular second.

The young Armenian virtuoso takes a heroic approach to the Concerto
No. 1, a powerful work that in a sense dramatizes the composer’s
conflict with Stalin. The concerto had to be suppressed for years for
fear of getting Shostakovich sent to Siberia.

The outstanding sections here are the jubilant dance, at once
triumphant and sardonic, of the second movement and the enormous
passacaglia that forms the third. It’s not unusual for the second
movement to make the hairs on your neck stand on end, as happens here
– but when it also happens in the tragic, majestic variations, that’s
news.

Mr. Khachatryan has a big sound, probably exaggerated by the
microphones here. But the Orchestre National de France under Kurt
Masur is probably at least as responsible for the disc’s sense of
grandeur. Mr. Masur comes off as a very great Shostakovich conductor
indeed in this recording.

At first, Baiba Skride’s performance of the Concerto No. 1 seems far
less imposing, partly because the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra
under Marek Janowski takes a subdued approach. But if you listen
carefully to all the delicate shadings in the first movement, you
realize that the Israeli violinist has a lot to say about this music.
Her delicacy does not mean a lack of emotional involvement. She and
Mr. Janowski really whip the finale into genuine excitement, too.
Maybe the conductor is of the school that insists that any musical
work, however large, should build to a single climax.

The reason that this CD is a must-have, though, is the performance of
the rare, reconstructed Janacek Violin Concerto. Mikko Franck and the
Munich Philharmonic Orchestra accompany Ms. Skride in this piece. It
has had a handful of previous recordings, but this one really brings
it to life.

Shostakovich
Grade:A
Violin Concertos 1 & 2. Sergey Khachatryan (Naive)

Shostakovich, Janacek
Grade: A-
Violin Concertos. Baiba Skride (Sony Classics)