Bournemouth

What a great set this is: thirteen discs chock full of masterful performances, many of which have already been praised here. EMI has not included any of Berglund’s Sibelius symphonies (except the Helsinki Kullervo) since they have been issued elsewhere, nor are there any concertos, which is a pity. But all of his Shostakovich symphonies for EMI (Nos. 5-7, 10, and 11) have finally been gathered together, including these benchmark performances of Nos. 6 and 11.

The Bournemouth Sinfonietta was founded in 1968 as a chamber orchestra of about 35 players to complement the work of the larger Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. The first conductor was Kenneth Montgomery, followed by Maurice Gendron, Norman Del Mar, Roger Norrington, Tamás Vásáry, and Alexander Polianichko, as well as director/violinists Ronald Thomas and Richard Studt. The Sinfonietta has appeared at the BBC Proms, with Glyndebourne Touring Opera, for the National Opera Studio, at the major British music festivals, on tour in Europe and Brazil, and on over 70 recordings (many featuring the work of contemporary British composers).

This has the look of a career-making recording from Scots violinist Nicola Benedetti, putting her up against difficult repertory that diverges from the crowd-pleasing fare that formed the basis of her career up to this album. It would have been hard to predict just how well she pulls off her task here; few could have heard the profound interpreter of Russian music in the Italia and Silver Violin collections from earlier in the 2010s. The Shostakovich Violin Concerto No. 1, Op. 99, is an emotionally thorny work in five movements anchored by a tense passacaglia in the middle. The composer withheld it from publication during the period of renewed Stalinist repression in the late 1940s. It was premiered in 1955 by David Oistrakh, and in endurance and elevated tone even if not quite in lyrical grandeur, Benedetti brings that master to mind. Sample the Stravinskian "Burlesque" finale for a sense of how Benedetti gets outside herself here. The Glazunov Violin Concerto, Op. 82, is a more stable work, rooted in pre-WWI conservatory traditions, and Benedetti's reading is nothing short of letter-perfect.

In addition to his symphonic recordings, Berglund also recorded concertos by Shostakovich with Tortelier and Ortiz. The album also includes the piano solo "Three Fantasy Dances", recorded in 1973-1975.