This Marquis album features two little-known concertos by two very well-known Italian composers: Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco and
Ottorino Respighi. Castelnuovo-Tedesco's concerto, commissioned and premiered by
Heifetz, enjoyed a modicum of success as part of
Heifetz's repertoire, but has since fallen by the wayside.
Respighi's concerto never even had the luxury of getting any significant recognition during the composer's lifetime. Still, both of these works are quality concertos and simply seeing their titles on an album cover may be enough to pique many listeners' interest. Regrettably, though, this album is most assuredly not the place to go to have those interests satisfied. For their part, the
St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra and
Vladimir Lande do a decent job of handling the orchestral tuttis, but there's a clear disconnect between orchestra and soloist in terms of tempo, pacing, articulation, and phrasing.
Lande cannot be blamed entirely. Violinist
José Miguel Cueto's performance of both concertos is wholly unacceptable. Castelnuovo-Tedesco's concerto in particular puts technical demands on
Cueto far beyond what he is capable of delivering. Intonation is a constant disaster, making listening downright painful.
Cueto forces his way through one passage after another with little to no refinement, elegance, or sophistication. While listeners should make an effort to hear these concertos, they should do so elsewhere.