The LSO’s long-time leader dazzles in the spotlight
THE STRAD RECOMMENDS
The Strad Issue: February 2025
Description: The LSO’s long-time leader dazzles in the spotlight
Musicians: Roman Simovic (violin) London Symphony Orchestra/Simon Rattle, Kevin John Edusei
Works: Bartók: Violin Concerto no.2. Rózsa: Violin Concerto
Catalogue number: LSO LIVE LSO0886
After the Hungarian-flavoured opening of Rózsa’s concerto, with Rattle at the helm, it isn’t long before the pyrotechnics start up, played with great style. Rózsa’s melodic gifts, which put him in high regard as a Hollywood film composer, are constantly in evidence in the first two movements, and they are well served by the lyrical sensitivity of Roman Simovic, with his clear, warm tone. He dispatches rapid, double-stopped passages with élan, and crafts the cadenza beautifully (marked calmo, but it really isn’t). The weaving arabesques of the central Lento cantabile are gentle and elegiac, and Simovic bustles splendidly through the busy, energetic finale.
Simovic mixes power and lyricism in the first movement of Bartók’s Second Violin Concerto (conducted by Kevin John Edusei), magical in the quieter passages, musing through the Molto tranquillo before exploding decisively into the following Vivace. Throughout, he deftly negotiates the many abrupt switches of voice and character. The cadenza is immaculate, fiery and driving. In the Andante tranquillo Simovic’s tone is hushed and velvety, then positively grinding through the au talon double-stops of the più mosso. The finale is joyous and open-hearted. This is a magnificent performance. (If there is one small cavil, it is that Simovic makes it all sound almost too easy; surely Bartók meant some of it to sound difficult.) The LSO is on top form throughout. The recordings, made in two halls, are warm and close.
TIM HOMFRAY
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