Rózsa: Violin Concerto / Benjamin: Romantic Fantasy as a hybrid multichannel SACD from Analogue Productions’ RCA Living Stereo series: Jascha Heifetz in two works for the concert hall, remastered by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound from the original analogue three-track tapes. Rózsa’s three movements and Benjamin’s fantasy play in one sequence.
Two ways of hearing a solo voice
This pairing takes a less familiar route into the Heifetz catalogue than the famous violin-concerto landmarks – and a wonderfully rewarding one. Miklós Rózsa’s concerto and Arthur Benjamin’s Romantic Fantasy invite you to listen for the relationship between virtuosity and song, between a leading voice and the colours around it. Even their scoring points in different directions: Benjamin writes for violin, viola and orchestra.
That changes the way you listen. A concerto lets you follow one solo voice claiming its place; in the fantasy, the conversation between two related yet distinct instruments offers another kind of invitation. The viola is far more than a lower extension of the violin – its register and weight give the exchange a perspective of its own.
Rózsa and a very particular performer
Rózsa’s Violin Concerto, Op. 24, dates from 1953 and is closely tied to Jascha Heifetz: the violinist gave its premiere on 15 January 1956 with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra under Walter Hendl. So this is not simply a famous performer meeting an interesting score – the soloist belongs to the work’s early history.
If you know Rózsa mainly through Ben-Hur or Spellbound, here is a way into his concert music that never feels like a film score missing its images. A long musical line has to find its own direction, and the tension comes from the relationship between ideas rather than a change of shot – a chance to hear the composer outside his familiar frame.
A recommendation that reaches into the score
Emmanuel Bay, Heifetz’s piano partner, played an important role: he brought the concerto to Heifetz, whose interest encouraged its completion. And the opening quickly complicates the idea of a mere virtuoso vehicle – a clarinet ostinato begins the first movement, the violin’s entry relates to its material, and violas and clarinet soon take up ideas from the solo line. The orchestra takes part in the argument instead of simply waiting to accompany.
Arthur Benjamin’s Romantic Fantasy of 1935 places violin and viola together in front of the orchestra; its scoring includes piano but leaves out trombones and tuba. The pairing is therefore not two chances for the same kind of brilliance – it gives strings very different tasks in the concert hall.
The hybrid multichannel SACD from Analogue Productions
CAPC 2767 SA is a hybrid multichannel SACD from Analogue Productions’ RCA Living Stereo series. According to the publisher, Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound remastered it from the original analogue three-track tapes, and for the Romantic Fantasy the disc offers both a three-channel and a stereo mix. For the three-channel programme you need a multichannel-capable SACD player and a matching setup; the CD layer plays on any conventional CD player. The disc contains Rózsa’s three concerto movements and Benjamin’s Romantic Fantasy.
You order from Michael 45 in Germany. We arrange the US import and ship from Hilden.
More from the series: RCA Living Stereo Series
Also in another edition: Rózsa: Violin Concerto / Benjamin: Romantic Fantasy
More SACDs with Jascha Heifetz: Bruch: Scottish Fantasy / Vieuxtemps: Concerto No. 5
Customer question: Buying Analogue Productions records in Europe
Musicians
Documented selection of participating musicians. Personnel may vary by track; this list does not claim to be complete. Walter Hendl and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra are assigned to the Rózsa recording. Full personnel for the Benjamin coupling remain unconfirmed.
- Jascha HeifetzViolin
- Walter HendlConductor
- Dallas Symphony OrchestraOrchestra
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