enriched byAdagio K.261 and the Rondo K.373, this new complete violin concerto by Mozart presents a charming artist who has become quite rare. In these recordings of 2018 and 2019, made in Stuttgart with the SWR Radio Orchestra, Gil Shaham’s violin seems however a little less soft than expected. The direct confrontation with Frank-Peter Zimmermann at Haenssler Classic turns to the advantage of the German, with a firmer bow and an ideally proportioned chamber orchestra. Shaham and McGegan are very good, but a little decorative, a hedonistic obedience in which James Ehnes (Onyx, 2018), more contemplative than Zimmermann, is ultimately better said. These concertos have recently experienced renewed interest with the version by Arabella Steinbacher (Pentatone), meager in sound and heavy with boredom, and that of Francesca Dego (Chandos, Concertos nbone3 and 4) mannered, seeking to evacuate the vibrato, but showing at least freshness in the phrasing.
To see in video