A Classical and contemporary pairing proves a partial success
The Strad Issue: June 2025
Description: A Classical and contemporary pairing proves a partial success
Musicians: Arabella Steinbacher (violin) Luxembourg Philharmonic/Gustavo Gimeno
Works: Beethoven: Violin Concerto. Lentz: Violin Concerto ‘…to beam in distant heavens…’
Catalogue number: PENTATONE PTC5187240
This is Arabella Steinbacher’s second recording of the Beethoven Concerto but, as she revealed in the April issue of The Strad, she has a substantial bonus in a concerto written for her by Georges Lentz.
I had expected more from her in the Beethoven: it is very nicely played but although Gustavo Gimeno sets a pleasing tempo in the opening movement, inspiration is lacking and there are even one or two routine moments. The Larghetto is lovely but ultimately earthbound, without either an improvisatory quality (as found in Vilde Frang) or real intensity (compared to Busch or Kogan). The Rondo has an air of business as usual.
Lentz’s work begins and ends with a massive drum stroke, the final one like a guillotine coming down. It plays continuously but five tracking points are provided. I first listened to it straight after the Beethoven and the opening six minutes, which start with the soloist offstage, sounded almost like a meditation on the Beethoven.
If you treat each section like a movement, it alternates slower and faster sections but I don’t feel I am being taken anywhere, despite brilliant fiddling by Steinbacher. I am most affected by the fifth segment, ‘An Elegy for Our Grandchildren’s Planet’, which is deeply felt. Throughout, Lentz draws on William Blake for inspiration and uses threatening sounds to make ecological points. I suspect I would get more from a concert rendition.
TULLY POTTER
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