Busoni & Brahms Violin Concertos form Francesca Dego

Like the repertoire concertos of Brahms and Beethoven, Busoni’s Violin Concerto is cast in D major (and indeed, Busoni wrote cadenzas for both of his great predecessors’ concertos). Busoni’s Violin Concerto, Op. 37a, was premiered in 1897 by the Dutch violinist Henri Petri (1854-1914). I is an interesting idea to couple the Busoni with the highly-recorded Brahms Concerto. Dego herself has this to say about her recording:

To be able to record Brahms’s Violin Concerto is a dream and a milestone for every violinist and I feel that with “my” Brahms I do not want to compete with the many gorgeous versions out there but instead to declare my own love and history with my favourite violin concerto. Busoni’s Concerto, however, is a rarely performed work, brought to the studio only a handful of times. It represents a different kind of responsibility, one that pushed me to want to rediscover every detail of this music as if it had never been played before.

Hee’s Chandos’ promo video:

Dego’s performance of the Busoni is remarkable. This is a relatively early work, so the full-on intensity of late Busoni might not be wholly there, but it does surface fro, time to time, set against som surprisingly firm arrival points. Dego and the BBC Orchestra, in fine form under Dalia Stasevska, are completely convincing. The sound is fantastic: I was glad to ee this disc was recorded in the Faifield Halls, Croydon. Here’s the first movement:

he three movements flow together as one, but there is certainly no missing the arrival of the slow movement in Dego’s performance. his is pure beauty. Dego and Stasevska take us to a place of high beauty (literally high in the case of the violin’s register):

The finale is ferocious. “Impetuoso” is part of the indicator, and certainly Dego’s account oceans at not only high velocity, but with high energy. Busoni’s writing is unpredictable, and sometimes deliciously elfin But when it comes to the end, it’s a high-octane carnival:

The BBC orchestra is in fine fettle here (significantly more so than in the recent Alpensinfonie at the PromsL my review)

The is competition here: another BBC orchestra, the Scottish one, joins violinist Tanja Becker-Bender (very closely recorded but luscious of tone) and conductor Garry Walker. her his no dying Becker-Bender’s wee tone in the more lyrical passages. But Hyperion’s recording seems not of their usual standard; that for Frank-Peter Zimmermann on Sony with the Turin RAI Orchestra and John Storgårds feels more immediate yet natural on every level.

Here’s the Zimmermann, with score:

… and before we move onto the Brahms, here’s a truly wonderful account. It’s historical, recorded live in March 1936, but look at the performers: Adlof Busch on violin, with the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam and Bruno Walter. Bisch is supreme here, and Walter finds greandeur in the score. Even if Dego is the performance to have of today and recent times, she does not eclipse this phenomenal account (it has been released on a variety of labels, including Rococo, Music & Arts, Istituto Discografico Italiano and Q Disc. It is, I believe the only piece by Busoni in the Bruno Walter discography, and yet his care, the X-ay deail and the sense of pure comprehension make one wish it wee otherwise:

The Brahms is indeed not the only version available. What is fascinating here is how the orchestra in the first movement exposition seems bent on reminding us that D-Major is Brahms’ pastel, pastoral key, and so a linked wok is the Second Symphony. There is a natural grace to this performance, a suavité than is to be relished. Here’s a separate promo vid:

.. and here’s the first movement complete. I find this performance intensely refreshing:

The Busoni cadenza, blisteringly difficult, includes a prominent part for timpani. The violin line is mesmeric, particularly when as intelligently shaped as in Dego’s account.

The oboe’s song in the second movement is absolutely lovely; but then Dego takes the melody to transcendental heights. The tempo is perfectly chosen;

The only fly in the ointment is the finale, which loses a bit of momentum occasionally. It’s the lyrical parts that are so relishable there, plus Dego’s incredible stopping. It just doesn’t feel like the crowning moment of a disc that previously held so much, though.

That said, I wonder how many people will buy this for the Brahms? The Busoni is where to head, a performance that is now surely top of the pile.

Francesca Dego’s new disc is available at Amazon here. Streaming below, including a link to the Busch. Unfortunately, that Busch is prohibitive for mere mortals on Amazon: one CD copy, the Music & Arts is going for £299.60 (this again couples the Busoni and the Brahms concertos), another (the Rococo, on LP), for a more random-sounding £226.84.Perhaps stick to the free YouTube video above, or the iDagio link below.