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In the Forum: Musical Discussions
In the Thread: Violin Concertos

Post Subject: Sibelius and Beethoven VCsPosted by JANDL100 on: 8/8/2009

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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