Wetz: Violin Concerto, Op. 57 / Traumsommernacht / Hyperion

Chronique

Ostensibly part of an ongoing revival, this recording of Richard Wetz's Violin Concerto in B minor, Op. 57, may find a few defenders for its fine performance by violinist Ulf Wallin and the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, skillfully conducted by Werner Andreas Albert. Hats off to these musicians, because they deliver the score with abundant color, clarity, vigor, and, particularly in Wallin's solo, enormous physical stamina; they make the best case possible for this work. However, Wetz's music is too derivative, melodramatic, and hackneyed to stand the test of time, and listeners may find it difficult to find any outstanding melodies or memorable passages in it. The Concerto is a rather formless concatenation of Romantic clichés -- nervous tremolos, doom-laden chords, Wagnerian fanfares, Brucknerian chorales, etc. -- surmounted by a violin part of endlessly cycling arpeggios and snippets of melodies that never cohere as themes. Although it is divided in four movements, this Concerto really seems like a loosely structured tone poem in the Lisztian mold, and quite an archaism for a work completed in 1933. The choral Traumsommernacht and Hyperion for baritone and choir are pleasant, quasi-Mahlerian filler, though not terribly striking or moving. CPO's sound quality is fine.
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