PROKOFIEVViolin concertos nO.1 in D major op.19 & no.2 . in G minor op.63. Sonata in C major for two violins op.56* [ Pavel Berman, Anna find the effect here, especially Tifu* (violin) Orchestra in the Second Concerto, I della Svizzera ltaliana/ initially disorientating. Yet Andrey Boreyko to hear Prokofiev's super- DYNAMIC CD5 676 virtuoso writing emerging Indianapo!is prizewinner wìth such blernishless poìse Pavel Berman brings and unforced eloquence comes freshness and eloquence as a welcome relìef compared to Prokofiev to the claustrophobic intensity of most recorded accounts. When cornpared The Double Violin Sonata is .(1; . -;-."':::with, say, Itzhak also beautìfully played and . ~~~i,-""-.=...• Perlman's EMI record ed, with Prokofiev's - ' recording wìth lyrìcal genius well to the fore, ~ Gennadi JULlAN HAYLOCK Rozhdestvensky or Isaac Stern's Sony classìc with Eugene Orrnandy, the natural perspectives of this new version, where Pavel Berrnan's sweer-toned playing emerges seductively frorn the orchestrai ranks, are such that one couId almost be listening to different pieces. Subtle internai orchestrai detaìl is revealed (particularly in the First Concerto) that usuali)' lies concealed behind the solo image. The passages where Bcrrnan duets engagingl), with solo woodwind instrumenrs or harp feel more 'sinfonia concertante' than concerto proper. The effect, especially rowards the end of the finale, is often magical, as Berman's silvery purity becomes enveloped in a pulsating web of orchestrai sound. Those raised on classi c accounts from David Oistrakh (EMI),Kyung-Wha Chung (Dccca) or Shlorno Mintz (Deutsche Grammophon), in which one can hear and feel the contract ofbow on string or fingers on fingerboard, ma)'

AUGUST 2011 THE STRAD 93

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