Double Concertos for Violin & Cello – Jan Vogler & Mira Wang

   in Classical Music (Jul, 2018)
Coupling two works for violin, cello and orchestra dating from 2015 (Rihm) and 2009 (Harbison) with Brahms is inspired. Sony’s rich recording suits the repertoire: the Rihm is Romantic at heart, its lush textures magnificent, underpinned by modernist roots. Brahms is closer than one thinks. Wang’s violin sings sweetly and expressively in Rihm’s long lines, Vogler an able partner, their lines often at odds as if in brow-knitted discourse.

Vogler is superbly eloquent and impassioned in the Brahms. But the first movement loses momentum and orchestral ensemble is inconsistent, and while both soloists are excellent, the result is unsatisfying.

Written for the present soloists and premiered by them, the Harbison is …