Showing posts with label Brahms. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brahms. Show all posts

Friday, November 20, 2009

Maxim Vengerov - The Best of Maxim Vengerov - Maxim Vengerov with Various Accompanists, Conductors and Orchestras (1990's, 2000)


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CD 1: Ludwig Van Beethoven: Violin Sonata N. 5 Op. 24 "Spring" / Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart:Violin Sonata KV 378 / Felix Mendelssohn: Violin Sonata in F Minor Op. 4 - with Itamar Golan (Beethoven, Mozart) and Alexander Markovich (Mendelssohn)

CD 2: Ludwig Van Beethoven: Violin Sonata N. 9 Op. 47 "Kreutzer" / Johannes Brahms: Violin Sonata N. 2 Op. 100 - with Alexander Markovich

CD 3:
Henri Wieniawski: Polonaise N. 1 Op. 4 / Niccolo' Paganini: I Palpiti Op. 13 / Henri Wieniawski: Legende Op. 17 / Fritz Kreisler: Schoen Rosmarin / Ernest Bloch: Nigun (Baal Shem N. 2) / Petr Tchaikovskij: Scherzo (Souvenir d' un Lieu Cher Op. 42 N. 2), Melodie (Souvenir d' un Lieu Cher Op. 42 N. 3) / Fritz Kreisler:Tamburin Chinois Op. 3 / Olivier Messiaen: Theme et Variations for Violin and Piano / Fritz Kreisler: Caprice Viennois Op. 2 / Pablo de Sarasate: Caprice Basque Op. 24 / Antonio Joseph Bazzini: La Ronde des Lutins Op. 25 - with Itamar Golan

CD 4:
Niccolo' Paganini: Violin Concerto N. 1 Op. 6 / Camille Saint-Saens:Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, Havanaise / Franz Waxman: Carmen Fantasy - with Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra

CD 5: Max Bruch: Violin Concerto N. 1 Op. 26 / Felix Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto Op. 64 - with Kurt Masur and the Gewndhausorchester Leipzig

CD 6: Sergey Prokofiev - Violin Concerto N. 1 Op. 19 / Dmitrij Shostakovich: Violin Concerto N. 1 Op. 99 - with Mstislav Rostropovich and the London Symphony Orchestra

CD 7: Petr Tchaikovskij: Violin Concerto Op. 35 / Aleksandr Glazunov: Violin Concerto Op. 82 - with Claudio Abbado and the Berliner Philharmoniker

CD 8: Jean Sibelius: Violin Concerto Op. 47 / Carl Nielsen: Violin Concerto Op. 33 - with Daniel Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra

CD 9: Sergey Prokofiev - Violin Concerto N. 2 Op. 63 / Dmitrij Shostakovich: Violin Concerto N. 2 Op. 129 - with Mstislav Rostropovich and the London Symphony Orchestra

CD 10: Johannes Brahms: Violin Concerto Op. 77, Violin Sonata N. 3 Op. 108 - with Daniel Barenboim (conductor and piano) and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra

CD 11:
Antonin Dvorak: Violin Concerto Op. 53 / Edward Elgar: Violin Sonata Op. 82 - with Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic (Dvorak), and Revital Chachmanov (Elgar)


Maxim Vengerov (more information at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxim_Vengerov) currently plays a violin by Antonio Stradivari made in 1727, the "Ex-Kreutzer" (below). He previously used to play a violin by Carlo Landolfi made in 1760
(from 1988 to 1993), the "Reynier" Stradivari of 1727 (1993-1995) and the "Kiesewetter" Stradivari of 1723 (1995-1998).


Saturday, November 14, 2009

Christian Ferras: Sonatas and Encores - Christian Ferras with Pierre Barbizet and Jean-Claude Ambrosini (1960's)

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CD 1: Cesar Franck: Violin Sonata in A Major M 8 / Guillaume Lekeu: Violin Sonata in G - with Pierre Barbizet

CD 2: Johannes Brahms: Violin Sonatas N. 1 Op. 78, N. 2 Op. 100, N. 3 Op. 108, Scherzo in C Minor WoO posth. 2 (third movement of the 'F-A-E Sonata') - with Pierre Barbizet

CD 3: Violin Sonatas N. 1 Op. 105, N. 2 Op. 121, Three Romances for Violin and Piano Op. 94 - with Pierre Barbizet

CD 4: Fritz Kreisler: Liebesfreud, Liebesleid / Robert Schumann: Traumerei (arr. Catherine) / Franz Schubert: Ave Maria / Fritz Kreisler: Rondino on a Theme by Beethoven / Felix Mendelssohn: Lieder Ohne Woerter Op. 62 N. 1 (arr. Kreisler) / Grigoras Dinicu: Hora Staccato (arr. Heifetz) / Antonin Dvorak: Humoresque Op. 101 N. 7 (arr. Kreisler) / Fritz Kreisler:Caprice Viennois / Jules Massenet: Thais Meditation(arr. Marsick) / Cecile Chaminade: Serenade Espagnole (arr. Kreisler) / Gabriel Faure: Berceuse Op. 16 / Nikolaj Rimskij-Korsakov: Sadko: Song of the Indian Guest (arr. Kreisler) / Pablo de Sarasate: Romanza Andaluza Op. 22 N. 1 / Manuel De Falla: La Vida Breve: Spanish Dance (arr. Kreisler) / Camille Saint-Saens: Carnival of the Animals: The Swan / Igor Stravinskj: Mavra: Russian Song (arr. Stravinskij/Dushkin) - with Jean-Claude Ambrosini

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Johannes Brahms: Violin Concerto Op. 77, Tragic Ouverture Op. 81 - Herman Krebbers with Bernhard Haitink and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam (1970's)

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Sunday, September 13, 2009

Robert Schumann: Violin Sonata N. 2 Op. 121 / Johannes Brahms: Violin Sonatas N. 1 Op. 78, N. 3 Op. 108 - Yehudi Menuhin with Hephzibah Menuhin (1934, 1940, 1936)


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Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Fritz Kreisler: The Charming Maverick Plays Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Bruch, Tchaikovskij, Kreisler - Fritz Kreisler with Various Accompanists, Conductors and Orchestras (1900's-1930's)

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CD 1: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Violin Concerto N. 4 KV 218 - Landon Ronald, Unknown Orchestra / Ludwig Van Beethoven: Violin Concerto Op. 61 - with Leo Blech and the Berlin State Opera Orchestra

CD 2: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Violin Concerto N. 4 KV 218 - Malcolm Sargent, London Philharmonic Orchestra / Ludwig Van Beethoven: Violin Concerto Op. 61 - with John Barbirolli and the London Philharmonic Orchestra

CD 3: Felix Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto Op. 64 / Johannes Brahms: Violin Concerto Op. 77 - with Leo Blech and the Berlin State Opera Orchestra

CD 4: Felix Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto Op. 64 - Landon Ronald, London Philharmonic Orchestra / Johannes Brahms: Violin Concerto Op. 77 - with John Barbirolli and the London Philharmonic Orchestra

CD 5: Max Bruch: Violin Concerto N. 1 Op. 26 - with Eugene Goossens and the Royal Albert Hall Orchestra / Fritz Kreisler: String Quartet in A Minor - Kreisler String Quartet

CD 6: Ludwig Van Beethoven: Violin Sonatas N. 1 Op. 12-1, N. 2 Op. 12-2, N. 3 Op. 12-3, N. 4 Op. 23 - with Franz Rupp

CD 7:
Ludwig Van Beethoven: Violin Sonatas N. 5 Op. 24, N. 6 Op. 30-1, N. 7 Op. 30-2 - with Franz Rupp


CD 8:
Ludwig Van Beethoven: Violin Sonatas N. 8 Op. 30-3, N. 9 Op. 47, N. 10 Op. 96 - with Franz Rupp


CD 9: Fritz Kreisler: Caprice Viennois Op. 2, Tamburin Chinois Op. 3, Schoen Rosmarin, La Gitana, Liebesleid, Liebesfreud / Johannes Sebastian Bach: Partita N. 3 for Violin Solo BVW 1006 - Gavotte (arr. Kreisler) - with Franz Rupp / Fritz Kreisler: La Precieuse (in the Style of Couperin), Chanson Louis XIII and Pavane
(in the Style of Couperin) - with Michael Raucheisen / Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Serenade N. 7 KV 250 "Haffner" - Rondo (arr. Kreisler), Rondino on a Theme by Beethoven - with Franz Rupp / Franz Schubert: Rosamunde D 797 - Ballet in G (arr. Kreisler) / Carl Maria Von Weber: Violin Sonata in F Op. 10 - Larghetto (arr. Kreisler) - with Michael Raucheisen / Johannes Sebastian Bach: Sonata N. 1 for Violin Solo BVW 1001 - Adagio / Robert Schumann: Romanze in A Op. 94 N. 2 (arr. Kreisler) - with Michael Raucheisen

CD 10: Felix Mendelssohn: Lieder Ohne Woerter Op. 62 N. 1 - Andante Espressivo in G Major "May Breezes" - with Arpad Sandor / Frederic Chopin: Mazurka for Piano Op. 67 N. 4 - with Franz Rupp / Eduard Poldini: Poupee Valsante - with Franz Rupp / Antonin Dvorak: Waltzes for Piano Op. 54 N. 7 - with Franz Rupp / Petr Tchaikovskij: String Quartet N. 1 Op. 11 - Andante Cantabile - with Franz Rupp / Nikolaj Rimskij-Korsakov: The Golden Cockerel: Hymn to the Sun, Sadko: Song of the Indian Guest - with Franz Rupp / Aleksandr Glazunov: Serenade Espagnole - with Michael Raucheisen / Traditional: Londonderry Air - with Franz Rupp /Cyril Scott: Lotus Land - with Franz Rupp / Manuel De Falla: Canciones Populares Espanolas: N. 4 "Jota" - with Michael Raucheisen / Manuel De Falla: La Vida Breve: Spanish Dance N. 1 - with Franz Rupp/ Johann Evangelist Brandl: Old Refrain - with Michael Raucheisen / Richard Heuberger: Der Opernball - Im Chambre Separee "Midnight Bells" - with Michael Raucheisen / Fritz Kreisler: Scherzo in the Style of Dittersdorf - with Lauri Kennedy and Thomas Petre / Johann Sebastian Bach: Suite for Orchestra N. 3 BWV 1068 - Air - Unknown /Fritz Kreisler: Aubade Provencale in the Style of Couperin - Haddon Squire / Petr Tchaikovskij: Souvenir de Hapsal Op. 2 N. 3 - Chanson Sans Paroles - Unknown


Fritz Kreisler (more information at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Kreisler and at: http://www.thirteen.org/publicarts/violin/kreisler.html) played many great violins during his career. Among them the 1730 Guarneri del Gesu' now known as the "Ex-Kreisler"

...and the 1694 "Baillot-Pomerau" Stradivari.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Johannes Brahms: Violin Sonatas N. 1 Op. 78, N. 2 Op. 100, N. 3 Op. 108 - Boris Goldstein, Julia Goldstein (1985)

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Very scant information is available about Boris Goldstein (at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Goldstein and, in Russian, at: http://berkovich-zametki.com/2006/Starina/Nomer7/Shtilman1.htm). I was unable to find any information about the violin he used to play.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Johannes Brahms: Violin Concerto Op. 77 - David Oistrakh, Otto Klemperer, Orchestre Nationale de la Radiodiffusion Francaise (1961)

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Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Johannes Brahms: Piano Concertos N. 1 Op. 15, N. 2 Op. 83, Violin Concerto Op. 77, Double Concerto for Violin and Cello Op. 102 - Krystian Zimerman (Opp. 15, 83), Gidon Kremer (Opp. 77, 102), Misha Maiskij (Op. 102), Leonard Bernstein, Berliner Philharmoniker (1980's)


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CD 1: Johannes Brahms: Piano Concerto N. 1 Op. 15
CD 2: Johannes Brahms: Piano Concerto N. 2 Op. 83
CD 3: Johannes Brahms: Violin Concerto Op. 77, Double Concerto Op. 102


Note: EAC found some errors while reading CD 3. They are inaudible to me, but you are welcome to judge by yourself, whether or not to download the present recording.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Nathan Milstein, Pinchas Zukerman: Great Violin Concertos - Nathan Milstein and Pinchas Zukerman with Various Accompanists, Conductors and Orchestras (1975, 1973, 1973, 1977)




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CD 1: Johannes Brahms: Violin Concerto Op. 77 - Nathan Milstein, Eugen Jochum, Wiener Philarmoniker / Felix Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto Op. 64 - Nathan Milstein, Claudio Abbado, Wiener Philharmoniker

CD 2: Petr Tchaikovskij: Violin Concerto Op. 35 - Nathan Milstein, Claudio Abbado, Wiener Philharmoniker / Ludwig Van Beethoven: Violin Concerto Op. 61 - Pinchas Zukerman, Daniel Barenboim, Chicago Symphony Orchestra




Concerning Nathan Milstein: see previous posts.
Pinchas Zukerman used to play the 1734 Guarneri del Gesu' "Stauffer" at the time of this recording (below).


Sunday, May 24, 2009

Ludwig Van Beethoven: Violin Concerto Op. 61 - Jascha Heifetz, Charles Munch, Boston Symphony Orchestra / Johannes Brahms: Violin Concerto Op. 77 - Jascha Heifetz, Fritz Reiner, Chicago Symphony Orchestra (1955)


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Jascha Heifetz (more information at: http://www.jaschaheifetz.com/index.html and at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jascha_Heifetz) used tp play on the 1730 "Ex-David" Guarneri del Gesu' (picture below or, to look at it closer: http://www.famsf.org/imagebase_zoom.asp?rec=7852312242150025)






Monday, April 13, 2009

Johannes Brahms: Violin Sonatas N. 1 Op. 78, N. 2 Op. 100, N. 3 Op. 108 - Arthur Grumiaux, Gyorgy Sebok (1970's)


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Arthur Grumiaux (more information at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Grumiaux) used to play on three great violins: the 1744 Guarneri del Gesu' "Cariplo-Hennel-Rose"...


...the 1715 Stradivari "Titian, Comte de Sauzay"(picture not available to me), and the 1727 "General Dupont" Stradivari (below).


Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Joseph Joachim: Violin Concerto N. 2 "in the Hungarian Manner" Op. 11 / Johannes Brahms: Violin Concerto Op. 77 - Rachel Barton Pine, Carlos Kalmar, Chicago Symphony Orchestra (2002)


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CD 1: Joseph Joachim: Violin Concerto N. 2
CD 2: Johannes Brahms: Violin Concerto Op. 77

Reviews
www.classicstoday.com
Artistic Quality: 10/10
Sound Quality: 10/10

This is not only one of the best sounding violin and orchestra recordings ever made, but the entire concept is so smart, so well executed, and so thoughtfully planned that even if it were not so musically stupendous it still would be worthy of your attention. As it is, this is one of those rare productions in which absolutely everything goes right. Consider, for example, the problems attendant upon releasing yet another recording of the Brahms Concerto. You have a small independent label with excellent musical credentials but limited resources, a soloist of great musical gifts (Rachel Barton's previous discs have all been top-notch) but who isn't a "big name", and a work that virtually every other violinist with access to a microphone has recorded, sometimes more than once. Given the fact that on musical evidence Barton's Brahms certainly deserves to be heard, what's a label to do?

First, secure the services of a world-class orchestra under a fine conductor (Carlos Kalmar, music director of the Oregon Symphony and Chicago's Grant Park Festival, fills that bill nicely). Amazing, isn't it, that when major labels are screaming about how they can't afford to record major American orchestras Cedille has found the resources to do just that? Second, instead of simply offering the Brahms, you find an interesting coupling. And let's not kid ourselves: Joseph Joachim's Hungarian Concerto isn't just an "interesting coupling"; it is the Holy Grail of Romantic violin concertos, a work so lengthy (47-plus minutes, about the same as the Elgar concerto), so difficult, yet so deliberately symphonic and, in a sense, anti-virtuoso in conception that it has never once received even a merely adequate recording. Take that coupling, play it to a fare-thee-well (demonstrating once and for all that the work is indeed a brilliant and neglected masterpiece), and then toss in an equally fine Brahms Concerto, all offered at a two-for-one price. If that isn't a recipe for success, then nothing is.

Indeed, Joachim's youthful Hungarian Concerto is so beautiful and full of life, its Gypsy-tinged melodies so entrancing, that only its inordinate difficulty accounts for its rarity. In concert it would be a show-stopper, and Rachel Barton has its full measure. The heavily symphonic first movement requires the soloist to engage in genuine chamber-music dialog with the orchestra, especially the principal winds. Joachim's orchestration must stand with the finest ever achieved in a concerto; there are no dead spots and no balance problems as long as the soloist has the taste and musicianship to know when to cede the spotlight and when to take command.

Take the remarkable cadenza as a typical example: there's no barnstorming sawing and scraping, but instead a densely flowing river of lyricism joined now and then by solo flute and oboe. It's one of the most purely gorgeous passages ever written for the violin, and Barton plays it for all it's worth (and finishes up with some devastating descending chromatic octaves that actually sound like musical notes and not a rusty hinge).

The slow movement features another very attractive principal theme, and when it returns at the movement's conclusion in the cellos, decorated by garlands of ornamentation from the soloist, the result sounds like some lost work of Dvorák at his most melodically characterful. Barton's electrifying attack on the finale, a dazzling "Rondo from hell" with a whiplash perpetual motion principal subject, sets the seal on this remarkable performance. Her double-stops (and there are tons of them: check out from 2:30 into the movement) are as sweetly tuned and richly voiced as her legato is smooth and her sense of rhythm acute. Even after this long work I wouldn't be surprised if you went right back and played the finale over again. It's that much fun.

The word that most succinctly sums up Barton's Brahms is "aristocratic". Among recent recordings, she plays Milstein to Hilary Hahn's Heifetz. The timings are identical to Perlman and Giulini's celebrated performance with this same orchestra, but for my money Barton achieves an even finer balance between poise and virtuosity (and shows far greater dynamic sensitivity, especially in the finale). With opening-movement tempos relaxed but never slack, Barton's warm, round sound allows her to really dig into the music where necessary (witness that famous fanfare-like motive, or Joachim's first-movement cadenza)--but she never emits a raw or unlovely note. The second movement, with a gorgeous oboe solo at the start, is just heavenly, and the finale reveals plenty of high-spirited energy but also numerous delightfully phrased touches in its various episodes. At the very end Barton and conductor Kalmar produce a wind-down coda perfect in its timing and wit. She even includes her own eminently musical and enjoyable cadenza on a separate track. Simply jump ahead when the orchestra stops (the balance of the coda is also included, so you don't have to skip backward to get the ending).

As noted above, the sonics are sensational. The opening of the Brahms, with dark-hued strings answered by the winds like a gleam of sun breaking through the clouds, will take your breath away. Although Barton deserves much of the credit for emitting such attractive sounds, it certainly helps that Cedille's engineers capture her shining tone with nary a trace of shrillness, even in the highest positions. Barton herself writes an excellent set of notes (surely indebted to Tovey in discussing the Joachim, but none the worse for that), and to put the icing on the cake she plays a 1742 Guarneri "del Gesu" violin, the "ex-Soldat", selected by Brahms himself for his friend and colleague, violin virtuoso Marie Soldat. Recordings don't get any better than this. Rachel Barton, conductor Carlos Kalmar, and Cedille deserve your enthusiastic support for putting this project together and executing it with such perfectionist zeal and consummate musicianship. There's also a lesson here that the whole industry should take to heart: Where there's a will, there's a way, and it's OK to make fewer recordings, especially if you make great ones. Astounding! [5/17/2003]

--David Hurwitz

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Johannes Brahms: Violin Concerto Op. 77, Violin Sonata N. 3 Op. 108 - Efrem Zimbalist, Serge Koussevitzky, Boston Symphony Orchestra (Op. 77) / Harry Kaufman (Op. 108) (1930's - 40's)


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Efrem Zimbalist (more information at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efrem_Zimbalist) used to own a very large collection of precious violins which included three great Stradivaris: the "Lamoreux" of 1735 (below), the "Titian, Comte de Sauzay" of 1715, the "Chant du Cygne", a Guarneri del Gesu' of 1735, a Lorenzo Guadagnini of 1743, a Ferdinando Gagliano of 1756, a Giovanni Battista Guadagnini of ca. 1775.


Saturday, March 28, 2009

Johannes Brahms: Violin Sonatas N. 1 Op. 78, N. 2 Op. 100; Hungarian Dance N. 1 (arr. Joseph Joachim) / Edvard Grieg: Violin Sonata N. 3 Op. 45 - Toscha Seidel, Arthur Loesser (Opp. 78, 100, 45), Emanuel Bay (Hung. Dance) (1920's - 30's)

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Toscha Seidel (more information at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toscha_Seidel) performed on the 1714 "Da Vinci" Stradivari, (now known as the 'Ex-Seidel', below), on a Giovanni Battista Guadagnini of 1786 (now also known as the 'Ex-Seidel'), and on a copy of the "Alard" Stradivari made by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume in 1860.




Saturday, March 21, 2009

Johannes Brahms: Violin Sonatas N. 1 Op. 78, N. 2 Op. 100, N. 3 Op. 108; 21 Hungarian Dances WoO1 (arr. Joseph Joachim) / Joseph Joachim: Romance in B flat Major - Aaron Rosand, Hugh Sung (1990's)

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CD 1: Johannes Brahms: Sonatas N. 1 Op. 78, N. 2 Op. 100, N. 3 Op. 108
CD 2: Johannes Brahms: 21 Hungarians Dances WoO1, Romance in B flat Major

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Johannes Brahms: Violin Sonatas N. 1 Op. 78, N. 2 Op. 100, N. 3 Op. 108 - Pamela Frank, Peter Serkin (1998)

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Pamela Frank plays the "Ex-Wieniawski" Guarneri del Gesu' of 1736.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Johannes Brahms: Violin Sonatas N. 1 Op. 78, N. 2 Op. 100, N. 3 Op. 108 - Itzhak Perlman, Vladimir Ashkenazy (1983)


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Monday, February 16, 2009

Johannes Brahms: Violin Concerto Op. 77, Violin Sonata N. 1 Op. 78 - Christian Ferras, Herbert Von Karajan, Berliner Philharmoniker, Pierre Barbizet (Op. 78) (1964)
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Reviews

www.musicweb-international.com


Ferras’s Brahms Concerto has been a generally admired account since its first appearance in 1964. He had an admirer as well in Karajan who is at something approaching his best here, often commandingly sensitive and thematically and textually revelatory. Ferras’ first entry doesn’t however sound fully "centred" and the succeeding orchestral soloists are rather unnaturally forward in the balance. But Karajan is imaginatively effective at 5’15 where he gives real life and meaning to the lower strings’ figure – and he is particularly good here and elsewhere at points of contrastive material, one of his great strengths as a concerto accompanist. Ferras’s vibrato is very fast and rather inclined to the wavery-quavery kind, if I can put it that way, and it has a slightly acidic tonal quality which confers a distinctive patina to his playing. I respect his musicality whilst not being a huge admirer of his tonal qualities.

There is a predictable weight to the orchestral contribution before the first movement cadenza (the Kreisler) and there is a considerable amount of orchestral incident audible, clearly but not officiously elucidated by Karajan and never at the expense of the music’s own internal logic and dynamism. Certainly this is not the quickest performance of the first movement on record but correspondingly it never feels solemnly or unnecessarily slow. The second movement sounds slightly too plush though with rich solos from the orchestral principals and at 3’30 some very saturated string interplay. Ferras’s slightly broken passagework leads to – for once – clearly audible orchestral pizzicatos from 7’20. The soloist is very expressive but not over succulent. It’s true as well that there are some moments of over-perfumed relaxation in the finale which co-exist with moments of dramatic insight and cogent delineation of the musical argument. A sometimes provocative performance then, but not a central recommendation.

The Sonata recording is extracted from the Ferras-Barbizet set of all three. This is a fresh and generous traversal but Ferras displays some of his intensely coiled and wavery vibrato once more which can, even with Barbizet’s excellent support, somewhat vitiate a work of this romantic impress. There is lyric intensity in profusion in the adagio but a lack of tonal opulence. It remains of a piece with Ferras’s interpretation of the Concerto and many will admire the more edgy and nervous insight his kind of playing brings to the romantic literature.

Jonathan Woolf

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Johannes Brahms: Violin Concerto Op. 77 / Joseph Joachim: Violin Concerto N. 2 "in the Hungarian Manner" Op. 11 - Christian Tetzlaff, Thomas Dausgaard, Danish National Symphony Orchestra (2007)


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Christian Tetzlaff (more info at: http://www.christian-tetzlaff.de/pages_en/01_bio.html) plays a violin by Stefan-Peter Greiner (more info at: http://www.greinergeigen.de/htm/home_e.htm), a contemporary maker.