German-born Christian Tetzlaff marks his debut on Ondine, his new Finnish label, with a celebratory round of concertos. While many violinists would search out a more mainstream partner to the popular Mendelssohn Concerto, Tetzlaff chooses less familiar Schumann.
The slow movement of Schumann's 1853 Concerto is the perfect starting point, an almost unsettling evocation of a Mahlerian world, penned some years before the later composer was born.
One senses Tetzlaff and conductor Paavo Jarvi might be aware of this uncanny connection, as the lustrous strings of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra cluster around the violinist's soulful outpouring.
The Concerto's outer movements, alas, are less distinguished. The heart-stopping few minutes of storm and stress that launch the piece dissipate somewhat when the soloist enters; the Finale in Polonaise rhythms has an obsessiveness that is of more interest clinically than musically.
Schumann sets up some cruel stamina tests for violinists and he is positively unsparing in the 1853 Fantasy that launches this album.
