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..."I would certainly commend this as one of the most desirable
performances on disc. From the pent-up urgency of the opening bars, Rosand makes
you listen afresh to the wonderful sequence of melodies the composer created,
each one beautifully shaded. At times he takes modest liberties, adding changes
of pulse as he shapes each movement into a seamless whole. Then, as in the Bruch,
he embarks on such a virile and happy finale. As an encore he gives a honeyed
account of the Meditation. The recently formed Malaysian Philharmonic gives
first-class support and a different recording team provides premier-league sound."
--David Denton, June 2002
"In the UK at least, the Malaysian Philharmonic is not yet a household name. It was formed in 1997 thanks to the generosity – let's call it – of a Malaysian petrol company, and gave its inaugual concert the year after under the stewardship of music director Kees Bakels. The orchestra's concert programme includes dress code stipulations that seem quaint to us scruffy-sophisticated Britishers, such as ‘Long-sleeve batik' or ‘lounge suite or smart casual' . I doubt I would get past the door, which makes me all the more delighted to have had the chance to hear the orchestra on disc. In the relatively short period of their time together, Bakels has marshalled the orchestra into a disciplined unit without having resorted to any compromises on spontaneity or lightness of touch. In Glazunov's baller score The Seasons – a seductive and neglected work which betrays the influence of Glazunov's friend and teacher Rimsky-Korsakov – these qualities are to the fore, and make for a thoroughly beguiling and exhilarating listening experience. In the more ofter performed Violin Concerto, soloist Aaron Rosand is a commanding presence, responsive to every twist and turn of music whose spirit he seems to comprehend intuitively. Equally in the brief Meditation for violin and orchestra, Rosand succeeds in giving a fresh face to Glazunov's familiar harmonic world. ...a very recommendable first choice. Performance: 5 stars, Sound: 5 stars " --Christopher Wood, March 2002
"I was prepared to give the venerable Rosand a pass in this new recording of the Glazounov Violin Concerto, made only last year; but I needn't have worried. Aaron Rosand at 74 is a marvel; in fact he sounds better than Menuhin at half his age, with a burnished tone and undiminished facility that makes the skitterish writing some 4 minutes into the Andante as well as the slashing double-stops that follow seem like child's play; yet there is in the lyrical second subject of I and the whole of the Andante a serene repose that soothes the soul, a sweet lyricism that merges seamlessly with the smoldering passions on either side. Rosand rhapsodizes as if quite on the spur of the moment in that extended solo that leads in its own good time into the Red Square finale, where the clarion trumpets triumphantly set the scene for a marvelous blend of playful banter and all-out pyrotechnics that Rosand tosses off efortlessly, closing out with a deplay of rapid-fire strumming and high-flying harmonics that would be the envy of many players now doggedly plying the concert circuit. In the warmly lyrical Meditation – I was surprised to find I didn't even have it in my collection – there is some wonderfully effusive string writing both for Rosand and his colleagues in the orchestra, making for a highly satisfying encore." --Haller
Artistic Quality: 10 / Sound Quality: 10
"Yes, Vox is still making new recordings, and so is violinist Aaron Rosand.
This one is superb. The excellence of the Malaysian Philharmonic may come as
a bit of a surprise to many collectors (that country's government has spent
literally tens of millions of dollars to create and house a first class ensemble),
and the exceptional quality of these performances certainly wasn't something
that could be taken for granted. Still, listening is believing. Rosand plays
Glazunov's charming and still underrated Violin Concerto with exactly the right
vein of gentle poetry that it requires. He handles the Moderato opening and
ensuing Andante sweetly and characterfully with tasteful touches of portamento,
then projects the rollicking finale with effortless virtuosity. Bakels and the
orchestra provide a richly colored, expertly balanced accompaniment. The brief
Meditation Op. 32 makes a delightful encore. ... It's all here, and it's glorious.
"--David Hurwitz
Aaron Rosand, 75 this year, is enjoying a wonderful Indian
Summer, his technique undiminished by the passing years, interpretations honed
to perfection by a lifetime of performances. He has always had that ability
to make music sound fresh and spontaneaous, his tone shaded with a flexible
vibrato ideal for Romantic music.
Though there is stiff competition from the 50 or so versions of Bruch's First
Concerto presently available on CD, Rosand's is certainly among the best. He
takes a very lyrical approach to the second movement, removing some of the meditative
quality, while the finale bubbles with good humour. The disc's major asset is
a sparkling account of the Scottish Fantasy - and a distinctively Scottish one,
as the music swaggers through the elaborate finale. --David Denton
"So when did Max Bruch become such a hot item? This is the
third version of his Violin Concerto No. 1 to appear in the last few months
(the other two were coupled with the justifiably rare Concerto No. 3). Can the
market support all three? Will it even notice? It should definitely notice this
one, as Aaron Rosand's performance is distinguished by its old-world, heartfelt
lyricism, coupled with an aristocratic finesse that imparts a sense of authority...
Rosand subjects his luxurious tone to much stress in the more impassioned and
declamatory passages of the first movement, but he softens his grip for the
tender Adagio, only to tighten up once again for the boisterous finale.
"Rosand is no less excellent in the Scottish Fantasy, playing with a somber
sweetness in the Grave and Adagio Cantabile; but later (with the aid of harpist
Birgit Bachhuber) he really heats up the finale's rough-hewn dance. Christoph
Wyneken and the NDR Radio-Philharmonie Hannover match Rosand's intelligence
and brilliance with their own energy and enthusiasm, all of which comes across
clearly in Vox's warmly resonant, naturally balanced recording... A disc for
everyone--Rosand fans, Bruch collectors, violin aficionados, and you. Artistic
Quality: 10 / Sound Quality: 9" --Victor Carr Jr.
"Listening to Aaron Rosand, you are not conscious of hearing notes on a violin, but of hearing things happen -- quite wonderful things taking place in a wide, bright space. What distinguishes Rosand's playing is not what comes from it--powerful elegance, all-of-a-piece integrity--but what comes through it: music at its purest, music distilled." --Dan Tucker, Chicago Tribune Music Reviewer
Aaron Rosand is now in his seventies but his marathon recording
career continues in full flow. Since he began to record for Vox in the 1950s,
he's given us, in addition to much of the standard violin repertory, a large
number of neglected works; his fine technique and passionate sense of commitment
have brought back to life many works like the concertos of Ernst and Joachim
that few modern violinists have dared to perform. And, indeed, it's the relatively
unfamiliar Second Concerto of Bruch that's the most revelatory performance on these discs.
"Throughout the long, slow opening movement, Rosand keeps us spellbound through
the sheer richness and variety of his response to the music, intense drama alternating
with beatifully soft, sweet, umpressurised playing of the second subject. His
strong presence and feeling of involvement carry the recitative-style middle
movement, and there's a devil-may-care brilliance in the virtuoso passages...
"Rosand's account of the Paganini also has many fine aspects. He plays the lyrical
melodies with exceptional sensitivity, and in the second movement understands
how he can enhance the sense of pathos by playing simply and quietly. He has,
too, all the panache needed to bring off Paganini's high-wire virtuosity...
"There are some textural changes on the recent Bruch disc too. Rosand changes
the composer's phrasing at several places in the First Concerto, and even recomposes
two bars in the finale. In the last movement of the Scottish Fantasy, admittedly
a rather repetitive piece, there are more cuts. But Rosand at 73 plays with
the same fine tone, the same enthusiasm, panache and technical control as ever.
...the Concerto's Adagio, the Romance, and the penultimate movement of the Fantasy
– show Rosand's characteristic spontaneity and warmth of expression undiminished.
The dramatic, rhetorical style of the Concerto's Vorspiel is perfectly caught,
too. The orchestral sound is attractively full and rounded...
"The reissue is well worth hearing for the splendid Bruch Second Concerto, the
recent Bruch performances, though not perhaps top recommendations for these
works, show a great performer still able to weave his spell." --Duncan Druce
"Until now, the recent parade of new Bruch violin concerto
recordings has overlooked the somber and dramatic No. 2. This concerto's unusual
ordering of movements and its darkly pensive melodic material (replete with
aggressive, Lisztian interjections on the trombones) in many ways is Bruch's
most compelling. Jascha Heifetz was known for his brilliant championing of this
concerto, but Aaron Rosand proves he's also a master of Bruch's style, both
in the symphonically integrated solo line of the first movement (where he floats
above the music's pervasive melancholy), and in the scherzo and finale's more
conventional virtuoso writing, which is made to sound anything but conventional
thanks to Rosand's imagination and musicianship.
"The percussive opening of Paganini's First Violin Concerto establishes the
work's theatrical atmosphere. Indeed, the concerto could be termed "operatic"
for its coloratura writing and many "recitative" passages. Rosand's
approach brings to mind the stunning technique of a seasoned bel canto singer
as he thrills us with his violinistic acrobatics in the sprawling first movement
and (especially) in the finale, with its hair-raising wide leaps that require
dead-on intonation. Rosand hits all of these squarely, and what's more, he's
clearly having fun doing so. The violinist achieves high-spirited musical rapport
with both conductors, Richter de Rangenier with the Bavarian Radio in the Bruch,
and Pinchas Steinberg with the Saarlandischer Radio in the Paganini. Both recordings
are well balanced, but there's greater presence in the Paganini production (taped
10 years after the Bruch, in 1980)." --Victor Carr Jr.
"Jascha Heifetz was one of the few violinists who championed
Bruch's D minor Concerto, a work almost completely overshadowed by its famous
G minor sibling. So it's appropriate in a way to have this recording by Aaron
Rosand, a violinist whose polished technique and silken tone often invite comparisons
to Heifetz. Now in his 70s, Rosand recently returned to the studio and has added
several well-received new recordings to his extensive Vox discography. The performances
on this disc are not new - the Bruch dates from 1970 and the Paganini from 1980
- but they hold their own nicely.
"Bruch's Second Concerto isn't as tightly constructed or as consistently inspired
as the well known First, but it has its share of thrills. It begins, unusually,
with a weighty slow movement that weaves the soloist and orchestra into an almost
symphonic texture. The rest of the concerto is more conventionally virtuosic,
and the swift and colorful final movement contains some infectious ideas. By
contrast, the companion piece on this disc, Paganini's Violin Concerto no. 1,
is almost pure display. After a brief curtain raiser, the orchestra fades into
the role of backup band while the soloist struts his technique the rest of the
way. There are some moments of genuine emotion, however, especially in the slow
movement.
"In both concertos Rosand plays with the clean, clear sound that is his trademark.
His phrasing is sensitive and suitably Romantic, but he never distorts tempos
to wring out emotional effects... Both conductors prove to be fine collaborators.
Balances between Rosand and orchestra are nicely managed; the soloist never
sounds unnaturally forward. Sound quality is good, although the Paganini, recorded
a decade after the Bruch, is slightly brighter.." --Michael Markowitz
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