Search - Dmitry Shostakovich, Alexander Glazunov, Zubin Mehta :: Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No. 1 & 3 Duets; Glazunov: Violin Concerto

Mehta is ordinary on the podium, but Perlman is commanding a

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 07/25/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Itzhak Perlman is so ubiquitous, even appearing on the Oscars broadcast, that it's easy to generalize about him as a musician of less than serious intent. If you sort through his many, many recordings, however, some leap out as special efforts. This Shostakovich First is one of them. He plays the opening Nocturne with ravishing tone and the kind of innate command that Oistrakh brought to this work originally. It's a shame that Zubin Mehta is so prosaic on the podium, because Perlman moves from strength to strength.



I'm sorry he decided to slash away at the great four-minute cadenza rather than play it for the kind of lyrical tragedy Oistrakh brought to it, but in every other respect this is a fine rendition. As a capper we get three light-hearted dance arrangements for violin duet by Shostakovich, for which Perlman's compadre Pinchas Zukerman is recruited--they bring a smile in this engaging fluff.



My interest isn't held by the songful but rather forgettable Glaznov concerto. For polish and beauty of tone it would be hard to surpass Perlman, however. Bringing two such fine performances together on one CD is a real boon to Perlman fans. Only the fact that Vengerov surpasses these readngs, not to mention Oistrakh himself, causes me to hold back the fifth star.



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