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Posted by tuga on
03-27-2009
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fiogf49gjkf0d Hi,
Having recently developed a deep interest in Violin Concertos (which might have been triggered by having recently attending a performance of Sibelius VC by Kavacos//Philadelphia/Eschenbach).
I have bought off the shelf performances of a few concertos and my preferences fall on those by Mendelssohn, Brahms, Sibelius, Elgar, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Bruch and Miaskovsky.
I was hoping you could suggest some notable performances and eventually some more interesting concertos of the same period.
Best,
Tuga
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Posted by Romy the Cat on
03-28-2009
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fiogf49gjkf0d Anyhow, the Wikipedia article gives a good overview
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violin_concerto
if you develop a specific love to the specific concert then it would be worth to look deeper for better performances…
The Cat
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Posted by tuga on
03-28-2009
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fiogf49gjkf0d Hi Romy,
Thanks for the link (how silly of me not to have thought of that): I've found a few more VCs in that list that I wish to look into.
I hadn't been to a violin concerto since childhood (before all those years of pop) and I guess those more recent attempts at trying to listen to recordings through thin and screechy systems killed my interest for the instrument. In this case I was sitting relatively close to the stage and the delicate and rich timbre of the instrument was something one could fall in love with.
Having heard Sibelius' VC via (car) radio a couple of times I had never really experienced the diverse landscapes and Finnish dialects anywhere as intensively as I did in this live performance.
I ended up getting myself Heifetz' rendering of the piece, it's the SACD remaster but it was on sale and I am short in funds.
Best,
Tuga
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Posted by Romy the Cat on
03-28-2009
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fiogf49gjkf0d Yes, it is better to hear it once then to have 5244 times to hear about it. BTW, you might not need SACD all that you need is live FM. Here is on Friday Charles Dutoit lead Boston Symphony with Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 63, the violinist was Georgian (a country in Russia) musician Lisa Batiashvili. I was not home and record it via Remote Desktop from NY Citi – the concert turned out to be wonderful. The “SACD premastered by morons” material will not do it. Live is live. The fragment is in my regular 88/24…
http://www.mediafire.com/?y3rlngezi41
The Cat
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Posted by tuga on
03-28-2009
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fiogf49gjkf0d  Romy the Cat wrote: | |
Yes, it is better to hear it once then to have 5244 times to hear about it. BTW, you might not need SACD all that you need is live FM. |
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Don't get me wrong: despite the hard time finding a no cost babysitter, I attend as many concerts as family duties and budget allow but I somehow end up going for piano or violoncello rather than violin. Classical FM in this remote end of Europe is actually quite good and it has a protocol for live broadcast of the Proms and Met Opera seasons. It also broadcasts several live recordings made by European radio stations but I am unable to record them. I have been fighting a lost war with my speakers and as a result the rest of my system is suffering from neglect - my FM performance isn't something to write home about - and limited funds aren't helping either. I end up "investing" more money on CDs. | Romy the Cat wrote: | |
Yes, it is better to hear it once then to have 5244 times to hear about it. BTW, you might not need SACD all that you need is live FM. Here is on Friday Charles Dutoit lead Boston Symphony with Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 63, the violinist was Georgian (a country in Russia) musician Lisa Batiashvili. I was not home and record it via Remote Desktop from NY Citi – the concert turned out to be wonderful. The “SACD premastered by morons” material will not do it. Live is live. The fragment is in my regular 88/24… |
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Thanks for the file. It's thick with colour and atmosphere as were the previous ones. I have checked my webstore for Batiashvili's discography and will try her Sibelius' VC. Best, Tuga
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Posted by Romy the Cat on
03-28-2009
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fiogf49gjkf0d I never heard Batiashvili before and although I did like how she paled in Boston (let see what she show off today) I would not run to buy her CDs. Nowadays we have a lot of good young violinists and the key is ketch them live at the right event. If we are taking about your Sibelius then last year I cough and recorded live-to-tape FM broadcast of Sibelius Violin Concerto with Sarah Chang and San Francisco lead by Marek Janowski. It was one of those events…. From the rest “must herd” would be probably David Oistrakh with Philadelphia, Heifetz with Chicago, Ruggiero Ricci with London, Kyung-Wha Chung (another Chung - Sarah Chang is American but Kyung-Wha Chung is Korean) with London, Tossy Spivakovsky with London…
The Cat
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Posted by Romy the Cat on
03-28-2009
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fiogf49gjkf0d I was listening today the live Batiashvili’s Suterday play and it was very very very good. What I was particularly pleased, as much as during her Friday concert, is that she does not have that bright forward sounding, almost violent violin tone that always annoys me. Batiashvili’s tone is darker with her violin almost sounding like a viola that can go high – I love it! Batiashvili plays Strad 1709 violin “Engleman”, I do not know if it considered good instrument. The 1709 is young Stradivarius as the better violins Antonio Stradivari reportedly was making later between 1714 to 1720 but something that Mr. Batiashvili does with her Strad is very right and I do like the result a lot. It sucks that this concert will not be played on Tuesday as I would probably go to hear her live.
The Cat
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Posted by JANDL100 on
08-08-2009
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fiogf49gjkf0d For many years my favourite performer for the Sibelius has been Christian Ferras. He has a DG recording with Karajan, and also there is a DVD-Video performance with Mehta. In both, his interpretation is very similar - if you want to experience icy wastes without having to go to the North Pole then all you have to do is listen to Ferras' opening sequence ... Brrrrr! Heifetz doesn't come close in my opinion, he too is 'icy' but he eschews all emotion whereas Ferras is experiencing it for us and communicating it with passion! There are very few instances where I consider perfomances to be "definitive" - there are usually so many worthwhile interpretive approaches to great music - but for the Sibelius VC Ferras just hits the spot for me.
For the Beethoven VC I would go for a rather obscure violinist - Ivan Czerkov (sometimes spelt with slight variations of the surname), with Albert Lizzio conducting the Philharmonia Slavonica. I've heard many of the Big Names - and yes, they can be mighty fine - but Czerkov has an exhilirating flowing line that no-one else in my experience has matched. Well worth seeking out - it tends to come up on 'bargain' labels. OK - so the orchestral accompaniment is '2nd tier' for the most part, and the sound quality is also not top notch - but for a superb rendition of the solo part Czerkov/Czerkow/Cerkow/Cerkov is not to be missed. The disc I have also has a fine performance of the Waldstein piano sonata by Dubravka Tomsic, it's on the low-price "Classical Collection" label.
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Posted by steverino on
08-03-2017
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FWIW I played violin in the high school orchestra (back of the first violin section) but having no interest in being a musician didn't continue. But I do know something about the instrument and playing it obviously.
Anyway, about 6 or 7 years ago resulting from a discussion, I surveyed the leading younger violinists in a variety of their recordings. I thought Batiashvili was head and shoulders better than any of the others, at least for post Baroque compositions. Baroque has pretty much become a specialization now with HIP and it is difficult to be equally proficient with both. Yes Batiashvili is not particularly young now, as she is nearly 40. Among the older current violinists I like Kavakos.
Sibelius himself was a violinist and only gave up concertizing when he felt he wouldn't be a top international soloist I have read. As might be expected his violin concerto contains very idiomatic writing for the solo violin (not that common as most composers are pianists, not violinists). I don't find the solo violin part itself that characteristic of Sibelius' Nordic ambiance, but think that it resides more with the orchestral accompaniment with its frequent string tremeloes and low scattered woodwind phrases. The last movement does seem close to the Karelia Suite in its bouncing rhythm.
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