Finds From a Pre-Digital Age Unearthed

Dedicated to Vengerov, who first played it in 1998, Shchedrin’s expansive three-movement Concerto Cantabile manages to accommodate brooding melodic washes and virtuosic fireworks without any discomfort. The moods are evocative, easy to listen to and rhapsodic.

Rhapsodic too is Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto, until the final movement. Violinist and conductor put more emphasis on continuity than on contrast, more on lyricism than driven rhythms and acerbic, witty playfulness. The range of emotional contrast between Aria I and Aria II is too narrow, but the final Capriccio turns electric with its driving pulse, syncopation and sinuous, almost sleazy byways.

Vengerov is a strong soloist but he doesn’t insinuate his way much into the line. Rostropovich accompanies considerately. With Tchaikovsky’s “Serenade melancolique,” both make sure that the composer’s delicate lyricism never turns into a schmaltzy blur.