Gil Shaham, Jian Wang, Claudio Abbado - Brahms: Violin Concerto, Double Concerto (2002)

This generous coupling of Brahms’s two concertos for stringed instruments has become relatively common in the age of CD thanks to compilations like the Philips disc of Szeryng and Starker‚ analogue recordings dating from the early 1970s. Modern digital recordings expressly designed for issue in coupling are much rarer‚ the Teldec issue of Kremer and Clemens Hagen being the most notable one. Now comes Gil Shaham in a live recording of the Violin Concerto which in its urgency and sense of drama is one of the most impressive for a long time‚ coupled with a comparably strong and warm reading of the Double Concerto with Jian Wang as fellow­soloist. The disc makes a splendid supplement to Abbado’s outstanding Brahms series with the Berlin Philharmonic.
Even in the opening tutti of the Violin Concerto Abbado establishes the incisiveness which is a mark of the whole performance. The tempo is a shade brisker than has become common‚ markedly so than that set by Haitink in the Szeryng version‚ and Shaham’s first entry is comparably dramatic‚ bringing out the total contrast when he relaxes into the soloist’s first lyrical statement of the main theme‚ a magical moment of transition (track 1‚ 3'57"). It is a reading marked by high contrasts not just of dynamic but of mood‚ all set within relatively consistent speeds‚ so that the overall timing for the movement is less than usual‚ closer to the fast speeds normal in the days of 78 recording.
Kremer with Harnoncourt is not one to linger either‚ but his is an altogether cooler reading‚ light and fresh‚ and the contrast is similar in the other two movements. Kremer in the slow movement takes a relatively detached view‚ where Shaham is far warmer‚ even though the tempo is steadier. Szeryng is not helped by the close­balanced recording‚ with no dynamic less than mezzo­forte. Shaham crowns his performance with a brilliant account of the finale‚ a daringly fast Allegro which consistently brings out the second marking‚ giocoso‚ underlining the impulsive folk­dance element with a hint of wildness‚ in which he finds a perfect ally in Abbado. Kremer with Harnoncourt adopts a similarly fast tempo‚ but it is all much straighter­faced.
There are similar qualities in this performance of the Double Concerto‚ which‚ though not recorded live‚ has similar tensions and sense of spontaneity simulating a live experience. Jian Wang’s big opening solo is expansive‚though not as much as Hagen’s on the Teldec disc. With Kremer and Hagen the solo interplay which follows‚ before the big tutti‚ is above all reflective‚ where Shaham and Abbado bring power as well as expressiveness‚ establishing this far more firmly as a first­movement Allegro. With close balance of soloists there is ample power in the Szeryng­Starker reading too‚ but much less light and shade‚ a mark of the whole performance.
As for the slow movement‚ that brings the most extreme contrast between Shaham/Wang and Kremer/Hagen‚ with the latter taking almost two minutes less in a cool‚ almost perfunctory account. In the finale both take a relatively lightweight view‚ but again with Abbado conducting Shaham and Wang bring out the music’s folk­dance qualities more‚ with sharper dynamic contrasts. Altogether an outstanding issue and a clear recommendation.