Rode: Violin Concertos Nos. 11 & 12

Album review

The French violinist and composer Pierre Rode (1774-1830) was the dedicatee of Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 10 in G major, Op. 96, and what a joy it would have been to hear him play it. His 13 violin concertos were written for his own use, but it would be wrong to call them show pieces: they're never oriented toward empty virtuosity. The pair here are representative. You could sample the Air varié, Op. 12, which subverts expectations by not going from simplest to most difficult; the structure of the work, spilling over variation lines, determines the virtuosity level. The Violin Concerto No. 12 in E major, Op. 27 is filled with long, lyrical lines, fluidly ornamented but rarely festooned with double stops and other tricks of the violinist's trade. The Violin Concerto No. 11 in D major, Op. 23, is more virtuosic; opening with a rather plain double-orchestral exposition, the music proceeds into a violin part that strives to exceed the orchestra music's dimensions. It's a novel and effective structure, and it makes you want to hear it from a violinist who can really command the stage, although there is nothing wrong with the readings here by violinist Friedemann Eichhorn, writing his own cadenzas, and the Jena Philharmonic under Nicolás Pasquet. In fact, most of the concertos in this set can make a strong bid for a place in the repertory.

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