Dvarionas Violin Concerto

[Alan Howe]

BIS are releasing the Violin Concerto in B minor by Lithuanian composer Balys Dvarionas (1904-72)...

http://www.classicstoday.com/review.asp?ReviewNum=12855

[wunderkind]

Thanks for the tip - looks interesting.  But, oy! - the coupling...not another Korngold VC.     I mean, it's a lovely piece and Erich Wolfgang is a favorite of mine, but geeze - couldn't they find another obscurity to go with the Dvarionas?

[JimL]

They never do that.  Or almost never.

[eschiss1]

Of course the thinking may be that enough people don't have a Korngold concerto yet, but would be put off by a recording of two unknown concertos (in which case the performance and recording of the Korngold had better be really competitive with better-known versions by better-known artists, then...) - a larger group than the admittedly rather small market of repertoire-driven collectors.  No idea, though. It would be interesting to see if they've ever actually tested this.  Instead of another Korngold concerto or another lesser-known concerto, another work by the same composer might be preferable still.

[wunderkind]

They never do that.  Or almost never.

How well I know.  The reason for unwanted, but impossible to avoid, multiple recordings of the same work.  Oh, well...

[eschiss1]

On LP once around 1961 a piano concerto (possibly the same concerto - no. 1 in G minor? - republished in 2006 by UAB Intermusic of Vilnius) was recorded (Aldona Dvarionaitė, piano, composer conducting, I believe?? Maybe the other way around.  His second concerto for piano was originally(?) published around 1972 (the year of the composer's death).  One of those might have been a good coupling, in a new recording or even a remastering of the old one (though BIS doesn't do that often).  There's also a horn concerto (pub. around 1966) and a symphony in E minor, apparently (published or republished in 1976 by Sov. kompositor), and quite a few piano and chamber works listed on Worldcat. The violin concerto may date from as early as 1948.

This wouldn't be his first representation on CD (ok, you knew that, I didn't) - works by Dvarionas have apparently already appeared on CDs performed by Gidon Kremer and David Geringas (the latter a work or two for cello and orchestra) - also a bassoon and piano work (theme and variations) on a CD with works by Hurlstone and others (a CDP Records recording from 1995).

This would be the CD premiere of the violin concerto (I'm guessing), but it does seem to have appeared on 78s. (http://www.worldcat.org/title/vtoraja-cast-koncerta/oclc/213510064)

[violinconcerto]

This would be the CD premiere of the violin concerto (I'm guessing), but it does seem to have appeared on 78s.

No, thats wrong. The Lithuanian Music Information Center released a double CD in 2004 with works by him. It includes the violin concerto, a symphony, a piano concerto and some other works as well. I think that is a must have! The Dvarionas violin concerto is one of the finest and most beautiful works in the genre! And the recording in the 2-CD-set is very good! Here are the details from the Lithuanien MIC:

http://www.mic.lt/en/classical/releases/info/662?ref=%2Fen%2Fclassical%2Freleases%2Faudio%2F43%3Ff_yea%3D2004

Best,
Tobias

[JimL]

Well, heck!  I don't have a Korngold!  This is my big chance!

[eschiss1]

This would be the CD premiere of the violin concerto (I'm guessing), but it does seem to have appeared on 78s.

No, thats wrong. The Lithuanian Music Information Center released a double CD in 2004 with works by him. It includes the violin concerto, a symphony, a piano concerto and some other works as well. I think that is a must have! The Dvarionas violin concerto is one of the finest and most beautiful works in the genre! And the recording in the 2-CD-set is very good! Here are the details from the Lithuanien MIC:

http://www.mic.lt/en/classical/releases/info/662?ref=%2Fen%2Fclassical%2Freleases%2Faudio%2F43%3Ff_yea%3D2004

Best,
Tobias

Apparently the same symphony in E minor (unless he wrote two in that key ) (from 1947 according to the en-Wikipedia article, with the subtitle, translated into English, "I Bow To Native Land".) Thanks for turning that up.
Eric

[Mark Thomas]

The music is certainly very accessible and lyrical, judging by the very generous clips available at the web site. I just wonder if it has staying power?

[wunderkind]

Well, heck!  I don't have a Korngold!  This is my big chance!

It's a lush work and you must hear it.  I prefer the Perlman/RSO/Previn version, but go for this!

[JimL]

Oh, I know the Korngold quite well, having heard it enough times on the radio to memorize it.  I've just never had it in my collection.  Looks like it's time to get one!

[Alan Howe]

Friends can try the new BIS CD here:

http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Balys-Dvarionas-Violinkonzert/hnum/1132982

[Gerontius]

I have the Dvorianas on order and looking forward to hearing it. The Korngold is a good discmate and Guzman is an excellent violinist, so this CD seems lieka win-win situation, mates.

[jimmosk]

Thanks for the tip - looks interesting.  But, oy! - the coupling...not another Korngold VC.     I mean, it's a lovely piece and Erich Wolfgang is a favorite of mine, but geeze - couldn't they find another obscurity to go with the Dvarionas?

You have perfectly encapsulated the reason why I like finding places that sell downloads of individual tracks (avoiding the ones that will only sell the tracks shorter than N minutes, since N is inevitably too short for one of the movements in the piece I'm interested in!)

--
Jim Moskowitz
The Unknown Composers Page: http://kith.org/jimmosk/TOC.html
My latest list of unusual classical CDs for auction: http://tinyurl.com/jimmosk