Berg & Beethoven: Violin Concertos (Harmonia Mundi)
Verdict: "German violinist finds the romantic soul of two concertos a century apart."
If the success of concerto recordings often lies in the pairing of the chosen works, then Isabelle Faust's new disc of Berg and Beethoven was destined to be a champion. The partnership of the young German violinist and veteran conductor Claudio Abbado whetted appetites a year ago, when the news came through that the two had been working in a Bologna studio with Abbado's own Orchestra Mozart.
Finally, this handsome new Harmonia Mundi CD lets us hear what they were doing. Alban Berg's 1935 Violin Concerto is steeped in the dying embers of 19th century romanticism. Occasioned by the death of the teenage daughter of Walter Gropius and Alma Mahler, it was also the last score the composer completed, just months before his own death.
The blending of Schoenberg's 12-tone technique with a more traditional harmonic palette allows Berg to incorporate a Bach chorale and a Carpathian folk song. Throughout, the wafting of major and minor tonalities tints the score with its unique mix of poetry and nostalgia.
Faust wends her way through Berg's enchanted forest of colours, by turns pensive and forthright, working alongside the orchestra as if it were a large chamber group.
