Modern composers rival older masters

JOSHUA BELL, VIOLIN; JEREMY DENK, PIANO; MARIN ALSOP, CONDUCTOR; BALTIMORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA; "The Red Violin" concerto; violin sonata (Sony Classical) ****

DANIEL POLLACK, PIANO; "Colors" (Rubedo Canis Musica)

****

NORMAN FISCHER, CELLO; JEANNE KIERMAN, PIANO; ANDREA MOORE, TIMPANI; "Bolcom: Complete Works for Cello" (Naxos) ****

John Corigliano's "The Red Violin" concerto began as a one-movement piece for the score he wrote to the film of the same name. He later expanded it by adding three more movements, turning it into a full-length concerto in what he described as being in the "great tradition" of violin concertos.

While there is certainly some truth in Corigliano's claim that it falls into the tradition of the epic concertos penned by Beethoven, Brahms and Tchaikovsky in its length, difficulty and scope, it still doesn't quite come close to being a part of that exalted company. In its lushly romantic soundscape, "The Red Violin" concerto comes closer to the spirit of Hollywood. The work is stylistically akin to the best of Hollywood's golden age film composers — it certainly has much more in common with Erich Wolfgang Korngold's violin concerto than it does with Tchaikovsky's.

But having Korngold as a spiritual father is by no means a bad thing. Korngold was not only one of the best composers Hollywood had in the 1930s, he was also a remarkable composer of symphonic and operatic works as well. His early opera "Die Tote Stadt," his violin concerto and his symphony in F sharp prove him to be an impressive composer of considerable merit and talent.

And the same is true for Corigliano. He has written a wealth of works in different genres that put him firmly in the forefront of American composers. "The Red Violin" concerto isn't necessarily one of his better works, but it's a wonderful vehicle for violinist Joshua Bell.

In this album, which is a live recording of the concerto with Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony, Bell plays the work with conviction and a forcefulness that makes the performance hard to forget. Bell played the original piece (the first-movement chaconne of the concerto) for the soundtrack, and so that movement and the entire work is carefully tailored to his talents.

The concerto is immensely difficult for the soloist, both in terms of technique and expression, but in his vibrant performance Bell makes it look simple. And his collaboration with Alsop and her Baltimore Symphony is a partnership made in heaven — intuitive, sophisticated and dynamically nuanced and executed.