It's not that violinist
Leila Josefowicz hadn't released recordings prior to this one that pushed the boundaries of her art -- there was her hard-edged 2001 release of
Prokofiev's violin concertos and her sharp-cornered 2003 release of
John Adams' violin concerto -- but neither of those recordings could compare with this 2006 release of
Shostakovich's First Violin Concerto coupled with his one and only Violin Sonata. With this disc,
Josefowicz seems intent to completely shed her youthful image as a baby-faced ingénue and taken on the mantle of a master violinist.
She almost pulls it off. Accompanied by
Sakari Oramo leading the
City of Birmingham Symphony,
Josefowicz turns in a hair-raising performance of the concerto, a performance of frightening intensity in the opening Nocturne, ferocious power in the following Scherzo, unbearable terror in the following Passacaglia, and overwhelming exuberance in the closing Burlesque. Accompanied by pianist
John Novacek, however,
Josefowicz turns in a fascinating if not wholly successful recording of the sonata. While one doubts neither her ability nor her dedication,
Josefowicz is altogether too reserved in the face of
Shostakovich's unrelievedly morbid music, too young, perhaps, to feel the fear of death that haunts the old atheist standing face to face with oblivion. Still, for a post-Soviet recording of the concerto,
Josefowicz's is one of the better ones, especially in Warner Classics' deep and detailed sound.