In their hands, the first and last movements became a kind of elegy, separated by a bitter, acerbic scherzo. Hickox and Mordkovitch discovered the concerto's links to the doomed Republican side of the Spanish Civil War. Always considered formally innovative, it nevertheless failed to connect emotionally with a great many listeners, despite the hints from its first soloist, Antonio Brosa. Mordkovitch revealed something new about the concerto. Now listeners actually have a choice to make. For a very long time, listeners were more or less stuck with Britten's account with violinist Mark Lubotsky, one of the few failures in Britten's performances of his own music. This account holds up well, for the most part. Vengerov, of course, can play the violin, and Britten wrote enthusiastically for the cellist Rostropovich, so Rostropovich knows well Britten's musical neighborhood.
Coming so close on the heels of Hickox and Mordkovitch's superb reading of the Britten on Chandos (CHAN 9910), this release gave me pause.
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