Went for this concert on Friday, just to hear Shostakovich's violin concerto. We should have looked carefully and noticed that the concerto only starts after the interval, and should have went for dinner instead of going in on time. My goodness, Schumann is really insipid in some ways. Nice motifs here and there, but the whole piece hardly qualifies as a symphony. Seems to me like he treated the orchestra as a string ensemble, and uses the other parts of the orchestra sparingly in unimaginative ways.
And then, Shostakovich was next. From the first few bars, I decided that I like Ivanov's playing, strong notes with secure intonation that was well projected. His phrasing and cadence was good as he went through the piece, and at the end of it, I have to say that I couldn't expect anything more in terms of interpretative intelligence. His virtuosity showed in the fast movements, very strong technique that carried off the cadenze very well, and the last movement too.
I was transfixed as I watched the concert, stiff and straight as he captured my attention entirely for the 40 minutes. I thought it will be hard for me to accept anything other than Oistrakh's archetypical recording, but I am mightily pleased with this too! He topped it off with Ysaye's Les Furies, showing off his technical skills again.
I look forward to more concert like this! The next one by Leonidas Kavakos promises to be equally spectacular too!
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