Classical Violin Concertos

[Bunnyears]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkAngel /img/forum/go_quote.gif When listening to these modern composers I imagine how strange and exciting life was back then. I often find it very useful to examine a composers music in context with the social, political, scientific and artistic changes that will influence the music. The period between WW1 - WW2 introduced tremendous mainstream radical changes to everyday persons life like: -electricity, phone, lightbulb etc -automobile -radio, record players -modern art trends (Picasso etc) Radical changes to art/music reflecting the fascination of modern life, science exploding with Einstein theory of relativity etc. In light of this tremendous change and chaos the music of Schoenberg, Berg etc make a lot of sense I do have that famous Karajan/DG Schoenberg CD and a couple others, and really like AS Mutter's violin concertos of modern composers. I am waiting to see if yourmusic.com carries the new Mutter Bach VCs with the modern music piece attached......a strange combination

Almost all of ASM's recordings have been released there, so why not this one? Since Fischer jumped from Pentatone to another Universal Music label, I daily expect to see her new Bach released there as well.

As for the pairing, there are too many people who will buy Bach by reflex and too few who would buy Gubaidulina for herself. I still can't understand how the Gubaidulina relates to the Bach, but it's possible, maybe, well, whatever.

 

[Bunnyears]

Just noticed:

DH at

has just reviewed Vadim Repin's recording of the Brahms Violin Concerto and the Brahms Double Concerto (with Truls Mörk, Cello) and awarded it the 10/10. It doesn't hurt that Riccardo Chailly and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchester are the accompanying orchestra.

As the release is DG and Universal now owns the BMG music stores, I hope that this will also find its way to to Y/M very, very soon.

 

[Zanth]

Mmm, very nice. I really enjoy Brahms Violin Concerto. This disc should be good!

 

[Bunnyears]

You know that Julia Fischer recorded that same coupling with Yakov Kreizberg and the Netherlands Philharmonic and Daniel Müller-Schott, cello not so long ago. That also received the coveted 10/10.

 

[Zanth]

Well well, perhaps my trip to the music store is going to be extra rough on my wallet today

One nice thing about listening to "classical" is that most of it is available on CD only (at least the more modern recordings) and because of this, I don't have to stress out about hunting down an LP that may or may not sound better. I can walk into a store, grab the CD for a decent price and walk out and be happy.

 

[Bunnyears]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zanth /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well well, perhaps my trip to the music store is going to be extra rough on my wallet today One nice thing about listening to "classical" is that most of it is available on CD only (at least the more modern recordings) and because of this, I don't have to stress out about hunting down an LP that may or may not sound better. I can walk into a store, grab the CD for a decent price and walk out and be happy.

If you are looking for a more cost-efficient recording (also 10/10) then consider the Gil Shaham/Jian Wang/Claudio Abbado/Berlin Philharmonic recording of the same pieces. Shaham is one of the underrated violinists around, and fwiw I think his recording of these works is reference. And they are also available as downloads from Amazon and DG (at 320 kbps Mp3).

 

[Zanth]

Alrighty! An extended lunch break to the other side of the city and an adventure through the best CD store we have. Here is how I made out:

Hahn - Schoenberg/Sibelius on DG
Hahn - Bach on DG
Perlman - Berg/Stravinsky on DG
Mutter - Bach on DG
Repin - Brahms on DG
Heifetz - Brahms/Tchaikovsky Living Stereo RCA
Fischer with Muller-Schott - Brahms on Pentatone

I also decided to grab some Cello concertos since well, I prefer Cello to Violin most evenings:

Muller-Schott - Elgar/Walton on Oreeo
Muller-Schott - Beethoven on Hyperion

Weinberg Concertos on Chandos with Gunnarsson on cello, Jonhall on flute and Claesson on clarinet

Finally some Mozart piano trios with Mutter and Muller-Schott performing with Andre Previn.

All in all, a fine day at the store. I was very surprised that three of those were SACD hybrids. Nicely done!

I'll have to wait a bit before I blow another bunch of cash but at least I have a nice list to go by! Happy listening for me this evening! thanks so much for this thread. Great recommendations that I'm sure I will adore.

 

[robm321]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zanth /img/forum/go_quote.gif All in all, a fine day at the store

Indeed

 

[Zanth]

As a music lover and audiophile I find it stressful to buy music. I know I shouldn't feel this way. I use music to destress... Yet, for instance, when buying my three preferred genres (jazz, indie rock, classical) each has its own requirements. For Indie rock, does the vinyl sound better than the CD? If yes, then buy the vinyl.

For Jazz, it's not just about buying on vinyl, which in most cases does win out, but it also matters who mastered the darn thing. Lately, there are gorgeous remasters coming out at an alarming rate (at least for my wallet) double LP 45 rpm runs of the best Jazz from the late forties up through the late 60's. Do I hunt down an original or do I get the remastered version? If it is a Hoffman/Gray production, the pricey remaster is the way to go.

With classical, there is a whole other world of hurt... much of it is CD only, so that simplifies matters to an extent, but, the permutations in classical are so much greater that buying without some inside knowledge gets stressful if I want to stretch my dollars. Threads like this are a God-send to be sure. Who is the best performer, along with the best conductor and orchestra for a given concerto? Or the best conductor/orchestra for a given symphony... or soloist, or quartet etc etc. At least with Jazz and Indie Rock, the performance is the performance, I just have to track down the best sounding version.

With classical, one is able to not only hunt down fine sounding albums but also the superior performances (which I admit is going to be subjective, overly romantic versus technically perfect but perhaps cold and sterile...etc).

At least reading through these types of threads where people banter back and forth discussing strong interpretations of a given work and listing them means a whole lot less leg work for someone like me, who may know more than the average listener but I'm no expert, so I really appreciate you folks chiming in.

 

[Zanth]

Alright, the last two for a long long time. My wallet needs a break.

The last Brahms concerto I'm likely going to buy, after this week I'm up to 10 recordings.
Brahms - Oistrakh with Szell conducting the Cleveland Orchestra, on EMI/His Master's Voice LP

The other recording is:

Paganini Concerto No. 1 in D Major, Wieniawksi Concerto No 2 in D Minor with Rabin playing and Goossens conducting the Philharmonia again on EMI LP.

Oh, the Weinberg Concertos on Chandos with Gunnarsson on cello, Jonhall on flute and Claesson on clarinet, is incredible! I'm not very familiar with Weinberg but this disc is really wonderful sounding, dark and brooding. Excellent on the drive home in a storm.

 

[indydieselnut]

Well, I didn't get a chance to read every post on this thread but I'll throw in a few of my favorites:

1. RCA Heifetz collection - talk about rough on the wallet...bought the entire 60+ cd collection back in the late 90's (forget the year). This is a constant source of joy and, as a perk, you have a good chunk of the violin repertoire at your fingertips

2. Gil Shaham Prokofiev concerti on DG. I just love the velvet tone of his fiddle on this disc.

3. Anything Leonid Kogan for sheer virtuosity. I just picked up a 10-disc Kogan collection and it's full of gems. Not the guy I reach for when I want to listen to Mozart, but I can't think of anyone that better epitomizes the Russian school of technique.

4. There's a release of discs that a fiddle-shop in Chicago called Bein & Fushi put out a while back called "The Miracle Makers". I love these discs because a.) I love Elmar Oliveira's playing b.) I'm fond of the fiddles made by Stradivari and Guarneri Del Gesu c.) Mark Levinson (the man) did the recording work. There's not a ton of "bloom" on these discs because the purpose was to capture the unique sonic characteristics of a bunch of these great Italian violins. I guess Elmar had the flu and was running 100+ fever during the recording but you'd never know it!

5. Elizabeth Wallfisch Bach solo sonatas and partitas. I can't get enough of these performances. She's on a baroque fiddle and bow with an insanely low A (something like 400)...she's amazing. As a cellist I have about 30+ recordings of the Bach cello suites but only about five or six recordings of the violin partitas and sonatas...this is the one I reach for almost every time.

6. I love the DG recording of the Glass violin concerto with Gidon Kremer. I don't care what you have to say about Glass...I love this piece

Overall, I generally prefer the old performers (Heifetz, Oistrakh, Kogan, the list goes on) to most of the new ones. Mutter, Bell, Fisher, Shaham...they're all wonderful players with an individual sound. I have several friends that are part of the "current breed" of international soloists and I have immense respect for their artistry. I just feel the current classical music scene puts conflicting demands on them that don't always serve the final musical product. That, coupled with the modern "giant hall" and the need to project at any cost, takes away some of the intimacy of sound and richness of tone that is what string playing should be all about.

Now someone needs to start a thread about cello music...that'll REALLY get me going...

 

[Zanth]

Nice choices! I love how you interchanged fiddle for violin. As a dealer, you know your stuff, and it is great to read about a fiddle in the same sentence as a Stradivari and Guarneri.

As for cello concerto (or cello music in general) I'm with you on that. I'm far more well versed there. Cello is my preferred string instrument by a wide margin and comes second only to the clarinet (which I play) as my favourite instrument.

 

[indydieselnut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zanth /img/forum/go_quote.gif Nice choices! I love how you interchanged fiddle for violin. As a dealer, you know your stuff, and it is great to read about a fiddle in the same sentence as a Stradivari and Guarneri. As for cello concerto (or cello music in general) I'm with you on that. I'm far more well versed there. Cello is my preferred string instrument by a wide margin and comes second only to the clarinet (which I play) as my favourite instrument.

Ohhh...I love the clarinet!! Still my favorite variation from Britten's "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra". BTW - thanks for all the great work you did on the PS1000 introduction. Not sure I'm going to end up there, but you certainly got me thinking

 

[indydieselnut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunnyears /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just noticed: DH at has just reviewed Vadim Repin's recording of the Brahms Violin Concerto and the Brahms Double Concerto (with Truls Mörk, Cello) and awarded it the 10/10. It doesn't hurt that Riccardo Chailly and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchester are the accompanying orchestra. As the release is DG and Universal now owns the BMG music stores, I hope that this will also find its way to to Y/M very, very soon.

Mork is one of my favorite modern cellists. I'm not always on the same page with him tone-wise, but his interpretations are wonderful. If you don't already have it, get his recording of the Shostakovich cello concerti. It's worth the purchase price simply for the last note he plays out of the cadenza into the final movement...BRILLIANT!! I don't think you even have to be a cellist to revel in the sound he gets in that one, individual note...

 

[ctemkin]

I got the Grumiaux Mozart violin concertos on Philips Duo which DarkAngel recommended, and I like it a lot. The sound quality is very good; there is a small amount of hiss, but not enough to be annoying, and I am someone who easily gets annoyed at hiss.