Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 (1844)
Max Bruch (1838-1920)
Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26 (1866)
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
The Lark Ascending (1914/1921, arr. Paul Drayton, 2019)
Johan Dalene (violin)
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra/Malin Broman (Mendelssohn), Gemma New (Bruch)
Swedish Radio Choir/Kaspars Putniņš
rec. 2021/25, Berwaldhallen, Stockholm; Studio 2, Radiohuset, Stockholm, Sweden
BIS BIS-2610 SACD [70]

In the LP era, at 25 minutes of glorious music on one side and a little short of half an hour’s worth on the other, coupling the Mendelssohn and Bruch violin concertos made perfect sense. Musically, too, the two works were comfortable partners. Now though, with CDs that can stretch to 80 minutes, only two masterpieces might seem like short measure. How spoiled we are! The third work in this programme is a surprising choice, but it turns out to be a deeply satisfying one.

Andrew Green, writing in the October 2024 edition of the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society Journal, tells us that The Lark Ascending was composed for violinist Marie Hall after the composer heard her playing unaccompanied Bach. Most of it was written in 1914, but only once World War I was over did the composer and violinist work together to bring the work to its final form. It was first performed by Hall in December 1920 in Shirehampton Public Hall in Bristol, in its original form for violin and piano. She also gave the first public performance of the orchestral version in London the following June, conducted by Adrian Boult. The scoring of that version is modest: seven woodwinds, two horns and strings, plus a single percussion instrument, the triangle. It is this version of the ‘Lark’ that has become perhaps the composer’s most popular work.

Vaughan Williams was always ready to facilitate performances of his music by providing alternative scorings, leaving out, for example, the more unusual instruments or those more difficult to come by. What would he have made of this arrangement, I wonder, by Paul Drayton, where the solo violin is the only instrument, accompanied by a mixed voice choir? The Lark Ascending is a perfect, small masterpiece, so leaving it alone would seem to be the best option – though it has, indeed, been subject to several arrangements. I was prepared to dislike this one, but one should never prejudge! Drayton has transcribed the orchestral part with great skill and sensitivity. The main string body is taken by the choir, adopting an open vowel sound that does not jar. A few melodic lines, mainly in the wind parts, are taken by solo voices, often setting short extracts from the poem by George Meredith that inspired the work. These passages will probably surprise listeners on a first hearing. Everything is there, with a single exception: Drayton wisely makes no attempt to represent the triangle. The Swedish Radio Choir sings with gorgeous beauty of tone and the performance is beautifully paced. Beauty of tone is also a characteristic of Johan Dalene’s playing, especially in the lower register, and he has mastered the composer’s very particular style whilst also bringing in a few subtle individual touches. His is one of the finest readings I have heard of this ubiquitous and well-loved work, and I hope one day to hear him play the orchestral version.

Beauty of tone and many felicitous touches are also features of Dalene’s performance of the Bruch concerto. There is nothing controversial here, and the young soloist’s approach is fresh and open, with a beautiful singing line above the stave, notably in the lyrical second subject of the first movement, as well as, of course, in the glorious and celebrated Adagio.

My reaction to the Mendelssohn is more mixed. The tempo indication for the first movement is Allegro molto appassionato. ‘Appassionato’ on its own, then, wasn’t enough for Mendelssohn: he wanted that ‘molto’. Dalene certainly takes the composer at his word: there is both passion and drama in abundance in this first movement. Whilst the detailed indications in the solo part are widely and scrupulously respected, there are also many individual touches, such as a little finger-slide here and there and much subtle and varied use of the bow. The lead-in to the second subject, marked tranquillo, is exquisitely done, but for the most part this is a forthright reading that emphasises the nervous, minor-key character of the music. The second movement is marked simply Andante, and therefore should not be too slow. Here, too, Dalene is faithful to the score, where his beautiful tone and flowing tempo make the outer sections more songlike than many violinists do, less pensive, though a welcome contrast to the rather stormy view of the first movement. The middle, minor-key section, however, sees a return to that earlier mood, forceful and emphatic, and Dalene is disappointingly brisk and business-like in the lovely, short passage that links the second movement and the finale. As for that whirlwind finale, it is certainly played with the utmost technical brilliance, but it is also unusually gruff. Mendelssohn has by that point dispensed with every trace of minor-key angst, so where are the smiles, where is the fun? There is not enough of either for this listener.

The orchestral contribution to both concertos is very fine, at one with the soloist in the Mendelssohn, directed perhaps from the leader’s desk by Malin Broman, and unusually detailed and full of character in the Bruch under Gemma New.

To sum up, Paul Drayton’s arrangement of The Lark Ascending was a revelation, and I will certainly be returning to it in this perfect performance. The next time I want to listen to Bruch’s lovely concerto I might well choose Dalene’s reading: it brings out all the qualities I hear, and want to hear, in the work. The Mendelssohn is, of course, a favourite piece, and many of us will have known it almost since childhood. Among the bewildering range of recorded performances I feel better attuned to those that bring more charm and less overt passion to the work. Hilary Hahn’s performance on Sony with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and Hugh Wolff has become one of my favourites, though I was less convinced when I first heard it. Her finale is exemplary: there is humour and jollity, and that at breakneck speed. I am astonished to be reminded that this performance – which I think of as recent – was recorded in 2002, yet for my other choice we must go back even further. The incomparable Josef Suk recorded the work in 1964 for Supraphon, with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and Karel Ančerl. There is no shortage of passion in the first movement, and the second movement and the lovely link into the finale are both delivered with the utmost tenderness. The finale is magnificent, light of touch, playful, and full of good-natured exuberance. Its closing moments are joyful, even triumphant.

William Hedley

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