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The Best Bach Violin Concertos recording ever made Jan 05, 2009
Yes, it's quite a claim. And yes, there's lots of room for argument. But, being an aficionado of Bach, classical violin, and JSB's violin concertos in particular, I'm willing to put my nickel down on Ms. Mutter's recording, especially of the A minor concerto.
From the opening notes, the piece is played with a sureness that never wavers, but doesn't play it as if strength was the most important quality. There's more body--and soul--in Mutter's version than in any other I've heard, and it successfully elevates the listener to the plane Bach intended. Mutter conducting as well as playing is no doubt key to the achievement. The A minor concerto simply cannot be played better than it is here, and the accompanying work by the Trondheim Soloists is magnificent.
The E Major concerto is just as sure and deft, but slightly less free and full than the A minor. Still stellar, it doesn't--by the barest of margins--maintain the coherence that Mutter and accompanists achieve in the A minor piece.
The disc concludes with the first-ever recording of Sophia Gubaidulina's "In tempus praesens", written by the Russian-living-in-Germany Gubaidulina as a work commissioned for Mutter. Written in 2006-07 after having been commissioned in the '80s, and first performed only in 2007, I believe, Mutter and the London Symphony, conducted by Valery Gergiev, here give an inspired performance of the the work. Gubaidulina is said to be highly inspired by Bach, and equally religious, and the work grows organically in a progression of struggle between good and evil as well as fate and free will. In five movements, the listener experiences the battle and feels the possibility of loss and defeat before finally having the sweet high of triumph.
Although allegedly inspired by Bach, the piece by Gubaidulina is decidedly modern, and only the faintest echoes of the baroque master are to be found. Though so decidedly different from the old and familiar Bach concertos, the Gubaidulina succeeds surprisingly well in this context.
If one is at all appreciative of Bach, this recording will reward the listening effort with art unsurpassed, and the experience of the culminating commissioned work by Gubaidulina is uniquely sweet. Mutter has with this established herself as one of the all-time masters.
"In Tempus Praesens" Dec 28, 2008
This is a wonderful production because it combines the old and the new in the best artistic manner. Anne Sophie Mutter leads us thru a very powerful and rich Violin concerto, a composition of J. S. Bach. Sofia Gubaidulina has been one of my favorate "modern" composers for a long time and I know her work very well. She dedicated the Violin Concerto "In Tempus Praesens" to A.S.Mutter. It is an intelligent and deeply movimg piece, portraying our time, as says the title. Two congenial women at their best!
Yael Niemeyer
beautiful and masterly matched Dec 20, 2008
Beautiful and masterly matched are these two Bach's concertos with Gubaidulina's last violin concerto. These performances are enhanced by the magic and personal touch of Anne-Sophie Mutter in the interpretation of the three concertos. Personally I like the "new old way" of approaching Bach and the wonderful feeling transmitted during the whole development of Gubaidulina's concerto. The company of the Trondheim Soloists in Bach and Valery Gergiev with the London Symphony orchestra in Gubaidulina are detached and emphasized when soloists or the whole orchestra joins the soloist.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
"In tempus praesens" -- a triumph for Sofia and Anne-Sophie! Dec 07, 2008
"I am a religious person...and by 'religion' I mean re-ligio, the re-tying of a bond...restoring the legato of life. Life divides man into many pieces...There is no weightier occupation than the recomposition of spiritual integrity through the composition of music." --Sofia Gubaidulina
"In tempus praesens" (2007 -- 32'45) is an absolutely stunning new violin concerto. Promised long ago to Anne-Sophie Mutter by Sofia Gubaidulina, it was finally finished in 2006/2007, and premiered at the Lucerne Festival in August 2007, performed by Mutter and the Berlin Philharmoniker with Simon Rattle conducting. For this premiere recording Valery Gergiev leads the London Symphony Orchestra. The now 77-year-old composer has been intimately involved in both of these premieres, supervising the rehearsals and insuring that her vision is conveyed.
"In tempus praesens" features a nearly unbroken solo line, a virtuoso vehicle for Mutter and surely many others to come. Though seemingly depicting a spiritual journey like her first violin concerto Offertorium (1980 -- 35'34 -- see my review), this new piece presents the soloist with less orchestral accompaniment, perhaps more purely. The orchestra menaces periodically, but not with as much vehemence as in the earlier work. And if the ending is not entirely unambiguous, the radiant rising tones of the violin nonetheless sound victorious. For Gubaidulina music always conveys a deep spiritual significance and, no matter how much she has been influenced by Webern, there is always a clear meaning to every note -- though there are no lyrics, this is not abstract, non-representational music. There are tones for good (generally high and major key), and for evil (generally low and minor key). An Orthodox Christian, her vision is practically Zoroastrian in its binary purity -- Light versus Darkness.
The two Sophies, Sofia and Anne-Sophie, seem to see it as natural to include violin concertos by Bach along with Gubaidulina, as Bach is a major influence on the Russian/Tatar composer. However, the music does not sound at all similar, structural or harmonic influences notwithstanding. It seems more likely to me that this was a marketing decision -- Bach will clearly outsell Gubaidulina, and so more people will probably buy this as a Mutter disc, or a Mutter/Bach disc than as a Gubaidulina or Mutter/Gubaidulina disc-with-Bach-thrown-in like me. On the bright side, this may mean that Sofia gains more listeners than she would otherwise. But we can still regret that Anne-Sophie did not record a new performance of "Offertorium" for this DG release.
As for the Bach concertos, they sound great. The melodies are instantly recognizable, some of the most memorable in all of classical music. Both of these works were later turned into keyboard concertos by Bach as well -- the recordings by Murray Periahia and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields of the "Concerto No. 3 in D Major" (Violin Concerto for E Major) and "Concerto No. 7 in G Minor" (Violin Concerto in A Minor) are sparkling and wonderful (Bach: Keyboard Concertos Nos. 3, 5, 6, 7).
All in all, one of the classical recording events of the year!
See my list SOFIA GUBAIDULINA: A LISTENER'S GUIDE for more by one of the best composers of our time, as well as my list THE TEN BEST LATE 20TH CENTURY COMPOSERS.
1 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 Transcental JS Bach-Gubaidulina Journey Nov 22, 2008
I had the pleasure of listening to Anne-Sophie Mutter play the JS Bach violin concertos BWV 1041, BWV 1042 and BWV 1043 during her recent concert in East Lansing, Michigan. So I had to get this CD when I found out about it. I thought the recording was excellent, although I still preferred the live performance. Then I compared this with her previous recording with EMI. This newer DG recording is still Anne-Sophie, but I found her playing to be more mature and sublime.
Not knowing what to expect of Gubaidulina, it took me two listenings to appreciate it. On the second listening, I found myself floating in a meditative state! Thank you for the music, and thank you for the experience.
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