For a couple of decades now, the Georgian violinist Lisa Batiashvili has been one of my favourites. A kind friend sent me her latest CD on which she plays four works. The César Franck sonata is obviously one of her favourites; this is the third recording of her playing it that I have on my shelves, previously with Maris Gothoni in Scotland in 2001, and with Khatia Buniatishvili in Verbier in 2013. For this 2022 recording, she plays in Berlin with fellow-Georgian Giorgi Gigashvili. A superb performance, well recorded by the German team that balances piano and violin to perfection, and captures the sound of Batiashvili's Guarneri del Gesù violin. And also three stars for Gigashvili, who proves to be an excellent partner for his fellow-Georgian. Yet another superb recording of this much-played duo sonata.
Karol Szymanowski's first violin concerto is pretty ungrateful for the violinist; to my mind, it is more a concerto for orchestra, with obbligato solo violin part. In my distant youth I bought the sheet music and attempted the solo violin part, without too much success. In this recording, Lisa does her best, but is not helped by the American engineers who concentrate on the (superb) sound of the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. The del Gesù violin sounds a bit tinny on top, as the engineers concentrate on the orchestra. A pity it was not recorded in Germany, like the Franck sonata; I always have the impression that German, and Czech, recording engineers have more experience of recording classical music, and a better feeling for balance and dynamics.
I have always had a soft spot for Ernest Chausson's Poème Op.25. It is given a lovely, affectionate performance here by Batiashvili and the Philadelphians. Again, I wished the balance engineer had turned the sound of the solo violin up a notch; Batiashvili has some lovely piano and pianissimo playing, but you often have to strain your ears to hear it here (though probably not in the concert hall). An odd minor criticism; it's usually the other way round with famous soloist recorded too up-front. Anyway, one notch too low is better than two notches too high where the soloist can blast you out of your chair.
As an encore, we are given Lisa and Nézet-Séguin playing Debussy's Beau Soir as arranged by Jascha Heifetz. An affectionate performance by both artists, and a piece that rounds off a highly satisfactory hour of violin music. Lisa Batiashvili may now be aged 43, but she still sounds in her prime. I nearly heard her in at a concert some years ago, but she cried off before I arrived there due, I seem to remember, to advanced pregnancy. It's good to hear her poised, intelligent, classical playing still going strong.
