Violin Concerto Op. 47 In D Minor: Allegro moderato
Violin Concerto Op. 47 In D Minor: Adagio di molto
Violin Concerto Op. 47 In D Minor: Allegro, ma non tanto
Violin Concerto Op. 33: Part I: Praeludium, Largo
Violin Concerto Op. 33: Part I: Allegro cavalleresco
Violin Concerto Op. 33: Part II: Poco adagio
Violin Concerto Op. 33: Part II:Rondo, Allegretto scherzando
If the music of this Finnish master has ever seemed chilly and remote, this performance is likely to be a revelation. While Maxim Vengerov doesn't deliver the spectacular Northern Lights that Isaac Stern achieved early in ... more »his career, the hot-fingered Siberian goes for the underlying angst that gives this music a whole new level of depth. Conductor Barenboim, who's not known for his Sibelius, is similarly on his toes. The Nielsen performance is inevitably less seasoned; even the piece's strongest advocates have trouble convincing anybody to let them play it, though it's a first-class work. Thus, it's gratifying simply to hear such charismatic forces playing it, with its Danish sensibility making compatible bedfellows with Sibelius's sparer, Nordic manner. --David Patrick Stearns« less
If the music of this Finnish master has ever seemed chilly and remote, this performance is likely to be a revelation. While Maxim Vengerov doesn't deliver the spectacular Northern Lights that Isaac Stern achieved early in his career, the hot-fingered Siberian goes for the underlying angst that gives this music a whole new level of depth. Conductor Barenboim, who's not known for his Sibelius, is similarly on his toes. The Nielsen performance is inevitably less seasoned; even the piece's strongest advocates have trouble convincing anybody to let them play it, though it's a first-class work. Thus, it's gratifying simply to hear such charismatic forces playing it, with its Danish sensibility making compatible bedfellows with Sibelius's sparer, Nordic manner. --David Patrick Stearns
CD Reviews
It doesn't get any better than this!
Brian Kelly | Music City, TN USA | 01/01/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I cannnot understand why this recording is getting such widely disparate reviews from other listeners since it seems obvious to me that this is an essentail, masterpiece recording of these two compositions. This is especiually true of the Sibelius Violin Concerto. I can't imagine anyone (other than Vangerov)ever playing this any better. I have at least five recordings of this concerto but none are as good as this one although Anne Sophie-Mutter's recording is right up there with Vengerov's reading of this concerto. The biggest difference is the recording and orchestration on this record are better. For me, even though this is not a particularly difficult piece to listen to I now feel like I had never truly heard or understood this music until I heard this recording.However, with that said, the Nielson piece may be the knockout recording on this CD. This could have been written for Vengerov since it diplays both his virtousity, his depth of expression and his unmatched ability to make wildly opposing musical statements seem coherent. Five stars to Vengerov for his unmatched performance and five more stars to Barrenboim for his help in making this music happen in the first place."
3/4 of this CD is great
HB | Fort Mill, SC | 03/16/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"When it comes to couplings, you simply cannot beat this one, the two greatest violin concertos from Scandinavia. The Nielsen, in four movements but with only one break, is highly underrated. It may not be the most beautiful violin concerto but it is powerful and quite original. The performance here is simply spectacular. The playing by Vengerov in the Sibelius is also on a very high level but I find the conducting of Barenboim to be cold and totally uninspired. If you already have a great recording of the Sibelius but none of the Nielsen, go ahead and purchase this CD. I believe you will love the Nielsen."
Awful!
Cindy Luk | Hong Kong | 09/14/2005
(2 out of 5 stars)
"1 star just for playing the wonderful Sibelius and 1 more for the rarely performed Nielsen. However the performance and recording is just plain awful. The sound is flimsy and detached, none of the brooding, icy fire that I usu. enjoy in this music. The Oistrakh version still reigns supreme at the moment."
A different take on the Sibelius; wonderful Neilson
billinrio | Paris, FR | 09/12/2009
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I grew up listening to the Heifetz/Hendl/Chicago Symphony Orchestra performance of the Sibelus. That recording fully deserves all of the praise that it has received over the years. In spite of his perfect technique, Heifetz was sometimes critized for a purported lack of "charm" and "warmth" - perhaps, but these are certainly not qualities required for this concerto, and the entire recording, which has never been out of the catalog since its release in the 1960s, is embued with a cold fire. Other recordings, such as those of Chung/Previn, Oistrach/Ormandy, and Lin/Salonen are also all wonderful in their own ways.
Here, with Barenboim leading the same CSO that performed so marvelously for Hendl, I've never heard this concerto played so slowly. There is no reason why such a pace couldn't work. Certainly, many of the movements from the composer's symphonies can, and should be taken with great broadness and concentration, and they sound wonderful that way. Its a tribute to Vengerov that he can maintain the long line, but here Barenboim projects turgidity rather than lyrical sweep. And in the 3rd movement, the polar bears don't dance.
In the Nielsen, it is as if a different conductor were leading the band, with Barenboim and Vengerov producing one of the most distinguished recordings that I've ever heard of the work.
The 3 stars for the album represent 5 for the Nielson, and one for the Sibelius."
Track Listings (7) - Disc #1
