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Shostakovich Debut CD
Robert Matthew-Walker, International Record Review, September 2006
I have always regarded this work as being more suitable for a male violinist;
there is something inherently masculine about this concerto that – with
one exception up to now, namely Ida Haendel –
in the last analysis eludes female violinists. I cannot quite put
my finger on it, but there it is. But in her performance on this
CD, Palmer joins Haendel.
She gives it a truly magnificent account, and is exceptionally
well accompanied by the Philharmonia, playing at the top of its
form, brilliantly conducted by Benjamin Wallfisch (one of cellist
Raphael’s musically gifted sons). Their tempos throughout
are spot-on, whereas Josefowicz is slightly too fast for the ‘Nocturne’,
slightly too slow for the ‘Scherzo’, and the ‘Passacaglia’
is not as nobly measured as it should be. As a direct comparison,
Wallfisch begins the ‘Passacaglia’ at exactly the right
tempo, and it is superbly sustained. Throughout, Oramo and the
CBSO are not in the same class as the Philharmonia under Wallfisch.
Not since David Oistrakh (or Haendel) have I heard such a movingly
committed account of the solo part as Palmer delivers. It is wholly
true to the composer.
Turning to the Sonata, although two recordings exist of David
Oistrakh playing this work (with Sviatoslav Richter and with Shostakovich
himself – the last recorded in the composer’s apartment),
Palmer’s recording is the finest all-round I have experienced
– indeed, her intellectual understanding of this extremely
difficult work is wholly exceptional, and her musical acuity is
admirable. She is the only violinist to deliver the direct quotation
from Berg’s Violin Concerto (figure 80 in the finale) with
just the right fractional emphasis and deeply emotional involvement
(because it is so subtly understated by Shostakovich). She is partnered
throughout with total commitment by Alexei Grynyuk, who is an equally
outstanding player. All in all, Josefowicz’s disc, good as
it is, is eclipsed.
Shostakovich Debut CD
Rick Jones, The Times, 2nd September 2006
Palmer’s bow has a demonic edge that inflames the Scherzo
and Burleske movements of Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto
No1, and her tone is so sweatily intense that one cannot turn away
from the Nocturno and Passacaglia. Let loose in the cadenza, she
makes the composers wringing anxieties her own, and if she doesn’t
quite dig as deeply as Vengerov, it is only because she is still
young. The Violin Sonata is more personal still, but she uncovered
its truths on a trip to Russia that is documented on an excellent
accompanying DVD.
Shostakovich Debut CD
Stephen Pettitt, Times on Sunday, 24th September 2006
The up-and-coming violinist Ruth Palmer so wanted to record Shostakovich’s
First Violin Concerto that she raised the cash herself, hiring the
Philharmonia for the necessary number of sessions. One might think
the result to be something like vanity publishing. Not so. She is
very much the real thing, and offers a fresh reading, technically
brilliant but also deeply insightful. The Philharmonia, conducted
by Benjamin Wallfisch, plays its own part with far more than the
dutiful precision of a hired band, doubtless having realised pretty
quickly Palmer’s qualities. She is equally good alongside
the pianist Alexei Grynyuk in the Violin Sonata, responding with
unexpected maturity to the work’s spareness.
Shostakovich Debut CD
Warwick Thompson, Metro, 24th July 2006
Young violinist Ruth Palmer found funding to record Shostakovich’s
Violin Concerto No.1 – and her gamble has paid off. Supported
by conductor Benjamin Wallfisch and the Philharmonia Orchestra,
both on top form, she plays with real energy and excitement. She
punches out the spiky opening double-stopped chords of the Scherzo
with real bite, for example, unafraid to be harsh. She’s equally
capable of a purer sound and her performance of Violin Sonata op134
with pianist Alexei Gryunuk has some passages of fascinating white-toned
inscrutability. The notes with the disc are stylistically embarrassing
and should have been better edited but it’s a small fly in
the ointment: this is a stimulating debut.
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