Mozart Violin Concertos - KV 216, 218, 219

Marianne Thorsen is a sensitive and intelligent musician who is wonderfully backed by the Trondheim Solistene. There is beautiful playing throughout these Mozart Concertos and I particularly enjoy the 2nd Mvmt of No. 3 in G with the winds and horns so beautifully caught. Also, notice the winds in the 3rd Mvmt of that concerto which rings through so naturally.

The soloist is much more clearly and vividly caught in DSD than on the CD, which is a little more brightly lit in the strings, although the winds do come throughout very pleasingly.

What is most important is how the listener is placed in such a way to not only hear but feel the presence of the players around you. The balance is quite remarkable and "life-like" and gives you the feeling of being there. I particularly sense this most keenly when I am lying down and listening with my eyes closed.

A very relaxing and enjoyable program of Mozart never fatigues the listener at all and only keeps you wanting more. Let's hope that 2L will release the remaining concertos for violin, as well as the Rondo in A K.269. I also add that I second many of the thoughts in the above two reviews!

Highly recommended for the Mozart Lover or anyone who enjoys classical music. Very relaxing after a hard day.

Marianne Thorsen is most active as a chamber player. She’s founding member and violinist of the well-regarded Leopold String Trio, leader of the Nash Ensemble, and also has toured as a soloist and made numerous recordings in that role. Here she’s heard with the Trondheim Solisten, a superb chamber orchestra from the town of her birth, in Mozart’s mature violin concertos. She’s up against some fearsome competition in these works, including complete sets by the velvet-toned David Oistrakh and the elegant Artur Grumiaux, among many others. If Thorsen doesn’t quite take top Mozart honors, she certainly offers excellent performances that generally wed individuality, elegance and a touch of intensity. There’s also a measure of brilliance too much of the playing, especially in the outer movements. In general, tempos are on the expansive side but never veer from the acceptable.

Warm phrasing characterizes slow movements, which flow nicely despite measured tempos. Thus the Adagio of K. 216 is tenderly sung, while in parts of the Andante cantabile of K. 218 Thorsen scales her tone down to a whisper and later brings a hushed intensity to the Adagio of K. 219’s cadenza. If some passages seem somewhat underplayed, it may be because of the memory of Oistrakh and Grumiaux linger in the brain.

The Trondheim Solisten is a small band (21 players) but sounds much bigger. The strings have a bite as well as smoothness; the winds are perfectly balanced and never swamped by the ensemble. Thorsen plays cadenzas by Sam Franko (K.216) and Eugéne Ysaye (K. 218 and K.219).

If Thorsen doesn’t eclipse her predecessors, she does trump such more celebrated contemporaries as the usually stunning Maxim Vengerov, whose latest venture into Mozart for EMI is distinguished by torpor and mannerisms that needn’t have been immortalized on the album. But if Thorsen’s Mozart isn’t a mandatory first choice it is a mandatory acquisition for audiophiles, for the sound is among the best I’ve heard in a long time.

2L is a Norwegian audiophile label whose catalog includes fine recordings by Norwegian composers, artists, and ensembles. This disc is recorded in what the label calls DXD. Without getting into the technical details, the vividness and life-like naturalness of the recording are striking, recalling the old Mercury Living Presence LPs.

In stereo the sound is involving, close-up but with plenty of widths, depth, and the air around the instruments. Details like the wind parts or the lower strings’ held notes under the soloist in the cadenza of the third movement of K. 218, often lost in recordings, are graphically present here. Surround sound buffs will feel that format trumps the others when listening to this album.