Beethoven: Romance No. 2 for Violin and Orchestra in F major, Op. 50

A simply gorgeous recording of the most popular Violin romances. The recording has long been deleted from the catalogue and is now reissued with the added 'bonus' of the Schubert Rondo.

Melodiya presents golden hits of violin music (Ravel’s Tzygane, Saint-Saëns’s Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, Chausson’s Poème, Beethoven’s romances for violin and orchestra, and Godard’s Canzonetta) recorded by David Oistrakh in the late 1940s, a peak of his violin mastery. The recordings feature the USSR State Academic Symphony Orchestra conducted by Kirill Kondrashin who was a frequent ensemble partner and friend of Oistrakh.

Beethoven’s life falls into three creative periods: 1790-1800, 1800-1814, and a third period to 1827. The Violin Concerto of 1806 therefore dates from his middle period, that of most of his orchestral music. Beethoven had by then written his Fourth Piano Concerto and his Fourth Symphony. He chose to present his Violin Concerto to Franz Clement (1780-1842), leader of the orchestra of the Theater an der Wien, who was then regarded as the greatest violinist of his time but was also remarkable conductor (he had conducted the first performance of Beethoven’s ‘Eroica’).

The work, intended for a benefit concert given by Clement, had to be written in a very short time because everything, including the date of the concert, had already been settled when Clement asked him to compose the piece. Beethoven began work on the compose the piece. Beethoven began work on the composition at the end of November 1806 and the first performance was given a month later. on 23 December. Clement had hardly been able to practice the piece and mostly sight-read the score at the première. And Beethoven had not had time to make up his mind between different possibilities for some passages, so that the soloist had several versions to choose from in some places! For the same reason he was unable to revise his orchestral material, so there was no cadenza. But Clement, who was not unused to such practices, improvised his own.

Somme commentators have also pointed out French influence in the very unusual use of the timpani to converse with the violin, thus setting the rhythm and the melody on an equal footing. Finally, we note that Beethoven prepared a revision of the work in the form of a piano concerto for the publisher Muzio Clementi.

Régis Pasquier plays the cadenzas composed by Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962), who also composed a cadenza for the Brahms Violin Concerto.

The 2 Romances are for violin plus a flute, two oboes, two bassoons, two horns and string accompaniment. It is believed that Beethoven used the same rather modest ensemble in the slow movement of his earlier unfinished Violin Concerto, WoO 5.

Both the 1175 are serene pieces, bringing out the expressive qualities of the violin with an elegance that calls to mind Mozart, including the subtle alternation of minor and major modes.

1SACD + Bonus DVD

Talented violinist Philippe Quint combines lyricism, poetry and impeccable virtuosity in his performances and has twice been nominated for a Grammy award. The Times referred to his “bravura technique and unflagging energy.” He has impressed audiences across the world and here performs these works on a Stradivarius violin.

Reissue Producer and Audio Restoration Engineer: Mark Obert-Thorn

Heifetz’s unequalled combination of silky legato, classically contained phrasing and technical dexterity found its perfect match in the Concertos of Max Bruch. The G minor recording was the first of two that he made with Sargent and it is, if anything, even finer in its lyric generosity than the 1962 remake. Bruch’s Second Concerto and Spohr’s Eighth were both recorded (as were the Beethoven Romances) in Hollywood, and are the violinist’s only recordings of either work. He exhibits superb control of the former’s long-breathed narrative, and of the latter’s operatic intensity of expression.