Customer Reviews

Beethoven, Mendelssohn: Violin Concertos

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Beethoven Violin concerto: Heifetz plays this piece well, but he plays it like Tchaikovsky. Beethoven wrote this concerto in a different period than the music Heifetz is good at. Each note is perfect (the norm for Heifetz) and the tempo is fast, but the fantasic playing seems out of place for an older violin concerto.

Mendelssohn Violin Conerto: You have not heard this concerto performed well until you have Heard Heifetz. I would pay 50$ for this piece alone. The woodwinds in the orchestra are a bit too strong, but some good use of sound controls can minimize this. Even with the woodwinds, my ears nearly fell off when I heard this recording of what I consider the second best violin piece of all time. (Tchaikovsky wins by a hair) I heard Itzahk in person last winter, and his live performance barely was a worthy comparison to this "living stereo" recording by Heifetz.

Buy this CD, If you don't, you will be missing the greatest recording of Mendelssohn in existance. If I could I would rate it 10 stars, no joke.

I have brought quite a few version of Beethoven Violin Concerto now, like many others, I am sure we all want to hear how different master of violin interpret this piece.

I think Heifetz version must be ranked as the fastest, tempo-wise. You can see the playtime of the 1st movement is about 3 min quicker than the average (18-19 + min for Heifetz, the rest usually 21- 24 + min). That is of course needed to consider different cadenza, too.

Some people find fast playing a problem. It feels like rushing but for Heifetz, he is certainly not rushing. He is just fast with certainty and accuracy. It's a delight to hear.

The Mendelssohn is amazingly powerful, clean and moving. One must see him play to fully visualise what a great man he is. You can see him playing this piece on DVD (the EMI Classic archive series). He hardly moves while playing, not much facial emotion. But he is so assure and firm. Shame it's only the first movement though. However, it's certainly worth the penny.

As for this CD, I am so glad that I own a copy. The Living Stereo Sound Quality is good, the artist and musicians are excellent. The price is a bargain.

I do not listen it too often. It is not because I don't like it. It's just that every time I listen to it, I don't want to do anything else but listen carefully. And that's not easy!

The great man is surely a legend of our last century.

...that I ever heard. And it spoiled me for life. I have, consequently, always regarded the first movement as the singularly most beautiful melody I've ever heard. And Heifitz is magnificent.

I inevitably wonder how the great Ludwig von feels when he takes back seat in a musical program, as if that thunderhead scowl could get any worse. And though he rarely has to play second banana, it happens here. The Beethoven concerto is certainly stunning, played pitch perfectly by Heifetz, and would be worth the price of the disc by itself, but the Mendelssohn concerto is an absolute tour de force. I aver with all sincerity that Mendelssohn's E-minor is the greatest violin concerto ever written, and you would be hard-pressed to convince me otherwise.
The recording itself is fantastic as well. Heifetz, as usual, is pure perfection. He nails these two pieces. Such effortless virtuoisity makes you want to stand up and applaud your sound system when he finally lifts bow from strings. I have never been able to adequately decide which is my favorite recording of the Mendelssohn concerto, Heifetz's for his precision or Yehudi Menuhin's (with the Bruch concerto) for his heart-rending violin poetry. My suggestion: Buy them both. For twenty-odd bucks you can own two equally magnificent discs that provide an intriguing contrast in styles. Bravo, Signori!

Jascha Heifetz approach to the Beethoven Concerto is an un-cerebral reading. By that I mean that all other violinists get sentimental about this work. That is understandable as the music is of tremendous beauty. However, when one becomes sentimental or emotional, they inadverdantly infuse their own musical ideas (regardless of the fact that they claim that they are letting the music speak). I know that Heifetz has strong emotional ties for this piece (he wants us to feel the music as it was written, this is apparent), but he does not let that interfer with his delivery of Beethoven's message. The tempi can be ruined by a cerebral interpretation. This speaks to me in many other interpretations. I cannot appreciate the music when I can sense that the artist seems to be playing slowly because they are so caught their own interpretation of the music. That feels like an egotistical display of emotion. Heifetz is a true musician. Because Heifetz will not display an emotional reading of this piece, we can hear Beethoven's music with all of the peaks and valleys that the composer intended. We cannot feel the emotion if it is evident that the artist has beaten us to it.

This is one of the best recordings of Beethoven's violin concerto. Although it is unusual to find someone that takes it at such a fast tempo, this is rather typical of Jascha Heifetz. However, one does not feel hurried at all in this recording. The playing is direct, accurate and clean. In this work, there is no pyrotechnic (eg. double stopping, left-hand pizzicato, etc.) to show off. Instead, it's like a massive study of scales & appeggios. Heifetz plays it with such simplicity & clarity that Beethoven must have meant it to be played this way.

Heifetz's tempo seems a little rushed in the first movement of the Beethoven -- not because he can't handle it, but because it doesn't really help the piece. By the time he gets to the third movement, however, the momentum pays off. The familiar Beethoven bum-pa-dums, almost bombastic in some versions, become ironic counterpoint. Heifetz's skill gives the composer's thematic variations here a very welcome, folksy playfulness. And his touch is so light, yet so authoritative, that the violin's final, almost inconsequential utterance seems to upstage the heavy, formal orchestral thump.

But it's the Mendelssohn that really earns the five stars here for me. After hearing this recording, I have to say that almost every other version I've heard now sounds somewhat cloying and insincere. Heifetz has been described as distant and stiff -- and compared to many young violinists, that may be true. But in a piece of this magnitude, trying to wring emotion from every phrase is a reckless and ill-fated endeavor. Heifetz's connection to the music is virtually unshakable. He does not mask lapses in concentration as sudden mood changes. There are no lapses in concentration (well, very few) -- which is likely why many people find his playing "unemotional." The concerto emerges as a whole piece, not broken up by arbitrary dramatic interjections. His virtually incomparable playing reveals its beauty and delight as he pursues the purity of the musical form with a dedication few others can match. Thank God he doesn't waste his time trying to provide us with an "emotional roadmap."

Oh corse, the spotlight deservedly goes to Heifetz, who plays both of the concertos perfectly. But equally important is the orchestra. Of the many versions of the concertos I have herd, none of the orchestra's come close to the sound Charles Munch creates with the Boston Symphony. The orchestra blends flawlessly with Heifetz, providing beautiful solos and rich sounds. Futhermore, Munch never takes the spotlight from Heifetz, allowing the soloist's interpretation to be herd. You will not here a better Beethoven concerto. You can try, but none will come close. The Perlman, Giulini recording sounds old and the orchestra sounds distant and muddy. Stern's sound is magnificent, but cannot compare to the power of Hiefetz. If you want the best violin concertos, buy this CD!

I will not go further than the other reviewers above. The matter is very simple : Heifetz/Munch/Boston is not only the greatest recording of Beethoven's concerto but it must be one of the great recordings of music. There are very few recordings about which one can be so unambiguous. I am not prone to effusing about the God-Space-Time-Continium and all that malarkey but if any piece of music can get you into that Thing, this is it.

Enough said.

Heifetz's Mendelssohn and Beethoven show astounding musicianship and unsurpassed technical perfection. No other violinist's recordings of these pieces even come close to Heifetz's.

These recordings set the standard by which all future recordings and performances have been measured.