Frank Peter Zimmermann (violin)
Violin Concertos: Mozart, Bach, Beethoven
Chamber Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra/Radoslaw Szulc
Berliner Barock Solisten
Staatskapelle Dresden/Bernard Haitink
rec. 2002-16
Hänssler Classic HC24002 [4 CDs: 252]

Admirers of the German violinist can rest easy if they already have any of the 2002-16 material on this label, as all the recordings are reissues. Most, in fact, have been reviewed here and quite extensively at that, which, I’m happy and lazy enough to note, absolves me from the responsibility of writing a very long review that you will certainly not read. Having already written one of those – on his EMI/Warner legacy – and having stalked the violinist to London and Lisbon (Elgar and Brahms respectively) in recent months, I am a willing recipient of more of his canonic repertoire. It’s not that he can do no wrong – I found his recent Bach solo Sonatas and Partitas on BIS very up-and-down – it’s rather that he is such a compellingly sympathetic figure on stage and has a Kreislerian ability really to listen to his orchestral colleagues, a gift he shares with similarly like-minded soloist-chamber performers.  

Mozart is one of his great strengths and he is a phraser of such naturalness that it’s almost inevitable that a name such as Grumiaux keeps cropping up. Concertos 1, 3 and 4 were reviewed by Michael Greenhalgh whose enjoyment of the recordings is echoed by me. The cycle with the forces of the Chamber Orchestra of Bavarian Radio under Radoslaw Szulc was made fully three decades after Zimmermann’s first traversal with the admirable Jörg Faerber and evinces the same strengths – buoyancy, infectious charm, refinement, grace, deftness. Concertos 2 and 5 are coupled with the Sinfonia Concertante and were admiringly reviewed by Michael Cookson. Zimmermann is rather tighter in No.5 than he had been with Faerber. It’s swings and roundabouts with the Sinfonia Concertante and though I like his partnership here with Antoine Tamestit, I find their little decorations off-putting and on balance prefer his youthful partnership with his exalted sister, Tabea.

Disc 3 charts his partnership with Berliner Barock, as well as a concerto with his son, Serge. This was also admiringly reviewed by Michael Cookson and, once again, I can understand the acclamation though for me this is the disc with which I had most problems. Not, I hasten to add, for reasons of lack of finesse. Berliner Barock’s players are drawn from the Berlin Philharmonic and though they use modern violins employ period bows. Performances are springy, ornaments here tastefully applied, and there’s an elegant precision to the playing which is invariably admirable. Articulation is lighter in the historically informed manner but I can’t really get into the performances; they’re all a touch studied and cool for my own tastes. 

The final disc is given over to the Beethoven Concerto with the Staatskapelle Dresden directed by Bernard Haitink on 29 September 2002. He takes all three movements much more rapidly than he had with Jeffrey Tate and the E.C.O. in 1987, when he took 25 and a half minutes over the opening movement – here he takes just over 21 and a half.  Much better. Similarly, the conception in the other two movements is much more directional. The previous release (review) was coupled with Brahms’s First Symphony. The resultant performance is perhaps a touch faceless in places but instrumentally never less than eloquent. 

The booklet notes are in German and English and are adequate without being especially involved. 

At its price bracket this will be attractive to the Zimmermann Completist though it will largely depend on whether you acquired any of the discs when they were first released.      

Jonathan Woolf

Buying this recording via a link below generates revenue for MWI, which helps the site remain free

Contents & performance details
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Violin Concerto No 1 in B-flat major, K.207 (1773)
Violin Concerto No 2 in D major, K.211 (1775)
Violin Concerto No 3 in G major, K.216 (1775)
Violin Concerto No 4 in D major, K.218 (1775)
Violin Concerto No 5 in A major, K.219 (1775)
Sinfonia concertante in E-flat major, K.364 (1779)
Adagio in E major, K.261 (1776)
Rondo in C major, K.373 (1781)
Antoine Tamestit (viola)
Chamber Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra/Radoslaw Szulc
rec. 2014 and 2015, Herkulessaal der Residenz, Munich, Germany
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Violin Concerto No 1 in A minor, BWV1041 (1717-23)
Violin Concerto No 2 in E major, BWV1042(1717-23)
Violin Concerto in D minor, BWV1052 (1717-23)
Concerto for Two Violins in C minor, BWV1060 (1717-23)
Serge Zimmermann (violin)
rec. 2016, Berlin, Germany
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Violin Concerto in D major, Op 61 (1806)
Staatskapelle Dresden/Bernard Haitink
rec. 2002, Kulturpalast, Dresden, Germany