Violin Concertos volume 9: Le nuove vie
The Naïve Classics Vivaldi series is now joined with a new album featuring violinist Boris Begelman with Alessandrini’s Concerto Italiano in label's ninth edition for solo violin, Le nuove vie. The concertos included are:
- RV 283 in F
- RV 365 in B-flat
- RV 194 in C
- RV 211 in D
- RV 346 in A
- RV 281 in E minor
Having visited Venice, the structure of the ritornelli of these concertos in part reminds me of the architecture one finds in the city on the lagoon. The last concerto, for instance, has what I’d call big and small details. The phrases themselves are like the big building blocks of, say, a church. It’s the finer details, the ones found in the baroque-styled stonework, that finds their way into the violin solo. I am not sure why but I always associated E minor with Vivaldi with night; this piece for me wins from the ensemble and soloists steadfastness to tempo and that structural confidence in their playing. While I think there are many opportunities for rubato with Vivaldi, Alessandrini has never been one to liberally apply this freedom in his performances, at least from the point of the orchestra. In this concerto, that style works so well. Especially if you're closing your eyes and thinking of Venetian buildings.
The opposing option, perhaps, is a more lyrical, organic feel; I compared the middle movements of the D major concerto, RV 211, between this new recording and Giuliano Carmignola’s with the Venice Baroque from 2000. GC is not my favorite violinist, not for any fault to his technique, but in some of his recordings of Vivaldi the level of schmaltz applied, especially in this slower movements, can go too far to my taste. In this comparison, however, it beckons to what I would have liked, at least in some spots, from Begelman and CI: just a little more of that schmalz. Taking my analogy further: nothing too greasy, just a little push and pull. Rubato. There’s just enough, I think, in Adrian Chandler’s recording of the B-flat concerto, RV 365.
I am splitting hairs here; there is much to admire in Begelman’s sound. All these comparisons come from solid recordings. And that’s worth nothing; from my own collection of Vivaldi, all but one of these recordings have appeared already from other performers. RV 194 is most certainly by Vivaldi; there’s nothing especially newsworthy in this concerto that we haven’t heard to some degree in his other concertos. The writing, however, and the somewhat semi-pregnant pauses Alessandrini takes speaks something grand, something to showcase the theater or exquisite acoustic available to both the performers and their audience. The opportunity for a short cadenza at the close of the first movement would have been so welcome. The middle movement makes way for the soloist to shine. The third movement is a technical challenge that, while well played, never fully develops into something to move the listener. It may be the wrong place to get onto my soapbox, but these concertos are written to accommodate some solos, even if none were left behind. It’s the perfect outlet to let loose, away from the structure of the big ensemble, to take us all a step closer to the dome above us in a cavernous church.
It’s just to say given the chance to showcase a not-often recorded concerto, or else others that already exist in the catalog, these performers could have gone the extra mile to move us. Their performances are more safe, which is frankly typical of almost all that are released. And they’re played well. I just saw the potential for something more.
The closing Presto of the concerto in A, RV 346, is a perfect example of the sonic signature of the album, which is consistent. Begelman comes across as playing strong and confident, but the orchestra is some distance away. The orchestra’s sound, as it was captured, isn’t my favorite. What saves it is Begelman’s closer proximity to the microphones. The engineering aside, the recorded sound enforces the close synergy between soloist and ensemble which is almost unusually tight. While I have heard Begelman before, it was a joy to hear him joined by his Italian friends, who I can only assume found great synergy in performing together.
