Brahms: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 77 & Berg: Violin Concerto "To the Memory of an Angel" (Live)

Album review

The press quickly recognised the perfect accord between German violinist Christian Tetzlaff and English conductor Robin Ticciati after their beautiful recording of Beethoven and Sibelius Concertos, published by Ondine in 2019. They’re back again with a stellar new album centred on two equally famous and much-recorded works: the Brahms and Berg Concertos.

A rising star in the world of conducting, Robin Ticciati approaches Brahm’s famous Concerto in D major without any emphasis. He obtains velvety tones and intimate dialogues from the German Symphony Orchestra of Berlin - perfectly in phase with Christian Tetzlaff’s expressive, inventive and personal violin. Far from the interpretation standards established throughout the world by a few celebrated violinists, Tetzlaff seeks musical truth in every phrase, note and inflection, with a refined, yet perfectly natural style. The distraught song of the solo oboe that announces the violin in the 'Adagio' is particularly moving.

Following this astonishing concert version, the same instrumental perfection and divine inspiration can be found in Alban Berg’s Concerto dedicated to “the memory of an angel”. This time, the piece is recorded without an audience. Ever since its premiere in 1936, this masterly work has been a classic within the violin and orchestra repertoire. Tetzlaff and Ticciati create a vision of twilight Romanticism, finding magical timbres and intense expression in this masterpiece that mixes mystery with existential questioning. At the climax of its tribute to Manon Gropius, the angel who died at the age of 18, this violin concerto quotes from a Bach chorale, soothing the morbid atmosphere that hovers over this requiem—a prelude to Berg’s own death several months later. © François Hudry/Qobuz