Jean Sibelius
Violin Concerto

THE REVIEW

Finland, second half of the nineteenth century.
Can you imagine it? I can't. Darkness and cold are the only words that come to mind. And it is in this darkness and cold that I picture a young Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) at just 9 years old playing "Rain Drops," his first composition for violin—perhaps illuminated by a candle, flickering like his inexperienced notes, and surely warmed by his passion for the temperamental instrument par excellence. A passion that nourishes a dream, the dream of becoming a violinist, a dream that wouldn't be shattered by the failure of his audition—he was almost thirty—at the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.
Indeed, because contrary to cold stereotypes, Finns can be warm and unpredictable. And unpredictable was Sibelius, his troubles with money and alcohol, as well as his talent for composition, which transformed the broken dream into one of his best works, the "Violin Concerto in D minor, op. 47" (1903).

The structure is the usual one for a concerto, in three movements; the substance, however, is an inventive mixture of romanticism and balance.
It is the first movement (Allegro moderato) that encapsulates, in about 15 minutes, the essence of the concerto, with three themes modulated to freely range between strength, sadness, pride, fragility. It begins with a slow, clear melody from the violin, which does not dominate the scene with virtuosity but rather is accompanied by the orchestra in a dialogue as elegant as it is dramatic and at times disorienting. The most beautiful theme is the central one, propelled by the percussion but cradled by the other strings, and exalted in its poignant, vibrant, almost abrasive lyricism by the performance of Shlomo Mintz, a great interpreter of romantic violins.
The second and third movements, shorter, balance each other out: the Adagio di molto is a romance with broad tones, with the solo violin softly suspended in the orchestra's velvety background, while the Allegro ma non troppo is an irregular rondo with a virtuosic development.

What cemented Sibelius's style in history were the seven symphonies (No.2 is included in this Deutsche Grammophon edition). This is, however, his only concerto and one of the greatest jewels of classical music from the last century, the work of a dreamer's soul, of a "poet of nature," as he liked to call himself. Sublime.