Mendelssohn wrote two violin concertos at two ends of his career both of which are based on the Minor scale. The first one written at the start of his career is aptly named Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in D Minor which shows traces of his teenage youthful exuberance whilst his final violin concerto is marked by emotional depth and quest for perfection. This is reflected by the fact that Mendelssohn took about 7 years to refine this major work of his that comes in three movements of about 25 minutes in total. The piece starts with a substantial Allegro con fuoco with strong melody lines followed by a leisurely Andante ending with a shorter but definitive finale. The thematic development and evolvement of the signature tune of the first movement progresses well through the three movements into the finale.
This concerto exits in two main forms; the original 1844 version which was autographed by Mendelssohn and dedicated to violinist Ferdinand David and the more modern and familiar version that is more widely played. The two versions is differentiated from each other in terms of tempo, orchestration, solo parts and orchestration mainly. I have a slight preference for the modern form instead of 1844 version as the modern version seems to be more coherent melodically but I must admit that perhaps familiarity bias could be the reason as the 1844 version is not widely recorded.
I have heard the following recordings of this piece:
1.Isabelle van Keulen with Lev Markiz conducting Amsterdam Sinfonietta (BIS)-1844 version
2.Janine Jansen with Riccardo Chailly conducting Gewandhaus Orchestra (Decca). Incidentally, the premiere performance of this piece in 1845 was Ferdinand David accompanied by Gewandhaus Orchestra.
3.Kyung-Wha Chung with Charles Dutoit conducting Montreal Symphony Orchestra. (Decca)
4.Shlomo Mintz with Claudio Abbado conducting Chicago Symphony Orchestra (DG)
5.Yehudi Menuhin with Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos conducting London Symphony Orchestra (EMI)
6.Akiko Suwanai with Vladimir Ashkenazy conducting Czech Philharmonic Orchestra (Decca)
7.Ruggiero Ricci with Pierino Gamba conducting London Symphonic Orchestra (Decca)
8.Pinchas Zukerman with Pinchase Zukerman conducting St Paul Chamber Orchestra(DECCA)
Of the seven recordings listed above, my vote goes to the version by Janine Jansen as it has a good balance between good playing and great sound as it is a relatively newer recording that benefited from newer recording technology. The version by Yehudi Menuhin is an old EMI recording so sonically, it is not so great but this recording has one of the best solo playing by Yehudi Menuhin but there seems to be a tension between the soloist and the orchestra vying for the limelight. The version by Kyung-Wha Chung with Charles Dutoit conducting Montreal Symphony Orchestra is a coherent recording with very good chemistry between soloist and orchestra and this could be due to the fact that Kyung-Wha Chung has been bedfellows with Charles Dutoit and Montreal in a number of recordings and performance and so is more familiar with each other.
You be your own judge and let me know what you think.
Peter Lye aka lkypeter.blogspot.com
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3.Kyung-Wha Chung with Charles Dutoit conducting Montreal Symphony Orchestra. (Decca)
