Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Vol 37, No. 16. July 10, 1974

Max Bruch—Violin Concerto No 1 in G minor and Scottish fantasia: Kyung-Wha Chung (soloist) with the Royal Philharmonic conducted

Max Bruch—Violin Concerto No 1 in G minor and Scottish fantasia: Kyung-Wha Chung (soloist) with the Royal Philharmonic conducted

Max Bruch (1838-1920) is best known for his first violin concert, a success at its first performance and still popular today. He wasn't a virtuoso violin player himself, yet this concerto is demanding on any soloist. The concerto's form is somewhat unusual; although it consists of three movements, the first two are joined, there is no cadenza as such and movement one is almost simply an introduction to the very melodic adagio. The final movement (allegro energico) exploits the violin to the full with difficult runs and double-stopping passages.

In this recording Kyung-Wha Chung makes light work of all the inherent difficulties. Her performance is hard to fault, except for a certain lack of strength in places during the final movement. She is at her best however in the more melodic sections; her phrasing is very lyrical.

The second movement, as a whole, is conducted slightly to slowly, and this makes it seem rather long winded. The final movement however doesn't flag at all. Kyung Wha Chung's playing in the Scottish Fantasia is just as good as her interpretation of the Concerto. Her attack is strong throughout, but once again she seems happier with the lyrical, slower sections; though this isn't to say she's not technically capable of performing the taster, extremely difficult parts. In many ways the Fantasia is more difficult, to play than the Concerto and this could be one reason why it is less popular.

The overall impression of the LP is highly favourable, and offers further evidence of the talents of the Chung family. Myung-Whan, KyungWha's brother is a very capable pianist who visited New Zealand only a few months ago.