Classical: fantastic (rare) composers and violinists

Anyone here listen to violin music?

I've been spinning Myaskovsky's Violin Concerto - for years I only ever had the 1930's David Oistrakh version. You can imagine how thin and lean this one sounds with the top notes being indistinguishable from the bass notes

This one I've had for some time and rediscovered:



I guess I should really introduce both composer and violinist here with this piece of work.

Myaskovsky isn't well known in the west; in part because he was the anti-commercial indie composer of the 1930s and very reserved, without the showy-ness that his mates like Prokofiev had.

I found this thread asking about him: Myaskovsky's violin concerto ... thoughts?

and of course -the seminal Repin from Siberia, who re-interpreted Myaskovsky's violin concerto, to give us a new modern masterpiece - the first in over 70 years for this sublime concerto:

Violinist.com interview with Vadim Repin

It's so wonderful to hear when violinist brings the composer's music back to life!

Anyone else have a favourite composer-violinist interpretation on record which they'd like to share?

Hey - what a fantastic recommendation!

I love Bartok's String Quartets (Végh & Keller interpretations) and string quartets in general. When it comes to violin concertos, I'm at a loose end and can number how many I actually own and listen to.

Have you heard Gyorgy Pauk's version of Bartok's Violin Sonatas & 44 Duos for Violin? I was very impressed by that cheap CD...it's been satisfying for years but I didn't venture any further to discover Menuhin's work. Now's the time!

Do you have the original Menuhin recording on EMI or the remastered CD, or both? I've not been getting much satisfaction from any of the remastered CDs I've bought and wonder if this one is top drawer...

Perlman is someone I only know from his Thibaudet/Harrell collaboration on the Debussy/Ravel Trios (Decca) which I like, but the critics slated Its true that 3 virtuosi playing together don't have the necessary glue like the a seasoned trio group like the Borodin Trio or the Solomon Trio. Still, I like his work and his Klezmer stuff.

Lovely to find another Myaskovsky listener here!

What I don't get, is why people are so orgasmic about Mahler, and don't seem to have even bothered with Myaskovsky. You're right about the lack of concert performances of Myaskovsky here: I have never ever heard a single Myaskovsky symphony nor string quartet ever being played

Thankfully his recordings are starting to gain wider recognition. When I first started listening to Myaskovsky as a student, there were only 2 versions of the No.6 Symphony on CD. I have No.6 (Kondrashian) - rather harsh and thin in recording but superb playing; No. 7 (Ginsburg) - very refined and 21 (Measham) (superb) and the Svetlanov series. I'm waiting for Simon Rattle to come along and recordall 27 symphonies with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

At the same time, I'm waiting for a string quartet group to re-record the complete string quartet cycle, only ever recorded by the Taneyev Quartet in the 1980s. There was only 1 complete cycle then...and still is. It's a superb cycle, although the recording isn't as warm and woody as I'd like.

Thanks for the feedback on the Repin CD. It's been on the shelf sometime, partly due to my satisfaction with the Oistrakh version with the vintage recording.

Hmmm - your tastebuds make me what to know what other Russian violin concertos are you listening to?

Here's another (of my 8 violin concerto CDs ) which I'd recommend: Gil Shaham playing Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No.1. I think he's recorded No.2 recently. Another one to get into:



That's really bizarre. I've heard of Karlowicz...but can't quite place him. Somehow, I'm thinking he's linked to my favourite composer, Karol Szymanowski and Poland, but I can't remember....

You listen to Kulka too?! Lol. Kulka covers Szymanowski's Violin Concertos I&II which I found on LP years ago! I love Szymanowski's work, especially these ones. These days, I'm listening to Zehetmair's versions with Simon Rattle (the orchestra and recording have the edge over the Kulka version) although Kulka's insights in playing are fabulous.

Olympia.....sigh. That was one of my favourite record labels. They brought so much from Poland and Russia to the west and were affordable when I was a student ....miss them...

Ahhhh! And you're a Glazunov fan too?! I had his Violin Concerto on Naxos and lent it to a friend (never seen it since). You're absolutely right: nothing is more tiresome than those new artists who come and stick out their stock repetitions of baroque and romantic work which has been overdone until hard boiled.

Thanks for the post!

Yes...I like my turnips, beetroots, suede, asparagus and potatoes too.

Here's the thread topic btw

Thanks - I'm more than happy to try another version of this other than my Pauk version! It can get addictive collecting different interpretations of favourite pieces

A few years ago, Olympia released most of Enescu's work on CD - I have the complete set of his orchestral works and chamber music. His string quartets were recorded on CPO by the Athenaeum Enesco Quartet: after a decade, I am still in a strange relationship with this group and their interpretation. Few have come along to record these obscure quartets till the advent of the Ad Libitum Quartet. I can't put my finger on it - the music is intense and peculiar - somewhat mesmerising but unlike his symphonic work altogether. It is definitely 'acquired' taste, along the lines of Bartok's string quartets. Enescu is well respected and played in his host country of France btw!

Yes - you're absolutely right; Myaskovsky's symphonic works do not approach Mahler; he created his own lyrical universe in an introspective world which is not immediately accessible to Mahlerians. The subtlety of his world view in intensely lyrical and beautiful - no one else creates music for the introspective like this. It's interesting coming across other younger listeners who listen to Myaskovsky for the first time and describe him as 'boring' or 'monotonous' - the lack of hysteria in his music is what I find most attractive. Symphonic music is probably my least favourite form of classical music ~ only the extrovert genres of ballet and opera outdo it in terms of cringe factor for me.

Nonetheless, if you like the magical touch of Mahler, then the concise intenseness of Szymanowski's No.3 & No.4 symphones (the other 2 of 4 are extant) stretches beyond magical flourishes to opulent mysticism. I'm holding my breathe too long for Gergiev

The Northern Flowers cycle is the same as the 1981-83 Taneyev Quartet recordings on Russian Discs which I've had for over a decade. Myaskovsky folk lyricism here is achingly beautiful; far less emotionally exhausting than Shostakovich or Basner's Quartets, I find that I listen way more to Myaskovsky than any other quartet cycle. No other Russian 20th century composer endows such lyricism so beautifully...

Lol Musicmind - you have similar cds in your collection to me. The Micarelli is delightful as are the romantic Wienawski discs I'm curious about Saygun, but I'd rather stick to violin concertos than symphonies. No surprise he's on that brilliant little CPO label

Pauk is on the Naxos label so the CDs are really cheap. I only have a few Naxos albums but some of them are superb in both craftsmanship and recording quality!

I haven't got into classical guitar music at all. People keep on sending me classical guitar CDs for some reason though

That Menuhin 51 CD collection for $$66 is incredible! It's a shame it's mostly conventional Germanic/Romantic music of the genre though it will sell very well. As cheap as it is, I'll try and find the Menuhin-Bartok CD separately.

Here's another one I'd recommend: Vissarion Shebalin is an interesting composer but hasn't got a huge output here in the west. I have his 9 string quartets which are incredibly introspective and personal, but not much else other than this - I like Thomas Hardy's work, although I wouldn't quite place it in the league of the virtuoso in the CDs in the posts above:




Okay - who's a Gideon Kremer fan? I've been looking at this for some time and wondering if it's worth acquiring: