Romantisme hébraïque

Album review

For her debut outing for Jade, French violinist Isabelle Durin recorded Hebrew Melodies of the Romantic Era with pianist Michael Ertscheid. Some might dispute the "era" part of the title; although the Abraham Goldfaden and Max Bruch works both date from the 1880s, the balance of the music on the album dates from about 1910-1940, which hindsight regards as the "early modern" period. Nevertheless, romantic it is; the music, its sweep and grandeur, and the emphatic, meaty way Durin plays it places all of it soundly within the realm of romanticism. In addition, to contextualize the program, also including pieces by George Perlman, Ernest Bloch, and several by Joseph Achron, Durin includes an excellent booklet note that provides historical background in considerable detail and explains her rationale for this collection. Jade could have copy edited the notes a bit more closely -- Ernest Bloch was not born in 1860, and Achron's name turns up as "Acron" at one point. Moreover, the grey-on-black print on the back cover, while stylish, makes it rather hard to read the composer's names.
However, one should not acquire this item to read the notes, but to hear Durin's full-throated, ravishing violin. While she approaches these pieces with a sense of passion and with a well-informed perspective in relation to the Hebraic roots of these pieces, Durin does not overindulge in violinistic special effects associated with the Hebrew tradition of violin playing, preferring to deliver these goods as "regular" recital pieces. That helps the program maintain a sense of purity and reveals what's in this music from a textual standpoint, in addition to conveying the considerable emotional depth of Durin's playing.
Some violin diehards might feel that the inclusion of three pieces from John Williams' score from Schindler's List as bonus items compromises the rest. Whether the main program or the bonus works are to one's preference, among standout tracks one is compelled to single out is Durin's intensely involved and moving rendition of Joseph Achron's Hebrew Melody. Also strongly notable are the three works by George Perlman, a Ukrainian who arrived in the United States in 1901, worked for the Carl Fischer publishing house in New York, and lived to ripe old age of 103.
However, a good many listeners who take an interest in Jade's Hebrew Melodies of the Romantic Era might be doing so primarily to hear the Schindler's pieces -- which they know -- and not the others, which they mostly don't. So perhaps there's a little reverse psychology going on here, n'est ce pas?

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