Beethoven, Sibelius: Violin Concertos

Ludwig van Beethoven (Composer), Jean Sibelius (Composer), Bruno Walter (Conductor), Eugene Ormandy (Conductor), Columbia Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), Philadelphia Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra
• Conductor: Bruno Walter, Eugene Ormandy
• Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven, Jean Sibelius
• Audio CD (January 3, 1992)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000027OR
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #129,208 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars violin treasures, December 28, 2001

By 

Alejandra Vernon "artist & illustrator" (Long Beach, California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beethoven, Sibelius: Violin Concertos (Audio CD)

The beautiful Beethoven concerto is here played magnificently by Francescatti...a more tender and moving performance would be hard to find, and with the great Bruno Walter conducting the Columbia Symphony Orchestra, this is a superb version of this piece, which is one of my favorite Beethoven compositions.

The reason this CD is an absolute treasure for me though is the Sibelius concerto, which inexplicably is not as popular now as it was a few decades ago. With its sweeping romanticism, sense of mystery (created by its use of the horn section), gorgeous melodies and wonderful rhythmic finale, it's a fabulous concerto, and here played by the one and only David Oistrakh, you get the ultimate in perfection in his interpretation of it, and Eugene Ormandy, with his usual excellence, conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Recorded in '59 (Sibelius), and '61 (Beethoven), and re-mixed for this CD release, the sound is quite good. The booklet insert however (in the one I bought), is one big typo ! It's about Glenn Gould playing Bach's partitas...in Italian !
Booklet info aside, this is a lot of great music (74'32 minutes) for a very nice price...and you get perhaps the most definitive renditions of these violin masterpieces available.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars masters at work, January 17, 2006

By 

J. Anderson (Monterey, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beethoven, Sibelius: Violin Concertos (Audio CD)

Francescatti's Beethoven concerto is shapely and engaging, and the playing is warm and refined throughout. My ultimate preferences with this piece are Shumsky's 1988 recording with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Davis, and Menuhin's recording under Furtwangler, but I admire Francescatti's beautiful lines and devoted intelligence. The reason, however, for seizing this remarkable offer (who knows anymore how long any recording will remain available!) has to be Oistrakh's incomparable recording of the Sibelius under Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orch. Of the many versions of this great work, for me, there is none that matches this particular Oistrakh/Ormandy recording. Of more recent versions, Cho-Liang Lin turns in a stupendously musical performance of this piece - convincing and beautiful. I believe five or six D. Oistrakh recorded versions of this concerto remain in print; his Melodiya recording with Rozhdestvensky is a rival, but Ormandy's command of the glacial cast of Sibelius' orchestral writing is just amazing, and, underpinning Oistrakh's inimitable conception, the playing of the Philadelphia Orch is rich and perfectly attuned to Sibelius. The remastered sound is first-rate, you'd think it was a modern recording. Whether you love this concerto, or dont yet know it, you've found here a defining performance to reveal its mysteries. I've treasured this recording for thirty years, and urge you to give it a hearing.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Francescatti vs. Heifetz, April 20, 2007

By 

Paul S. (Oakland, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beethoven, Sibelius: Violin Concertos (Audio CD)

I've owned this CD and the Heifetz/Reiner Beethoven for years, and it's hard to imagine that both violinists were playing from the same score. Francescatti makes a regular practice of holding a note just a bit, to shape a phrase or add emphasis. Heifetz makes a consistent practice of avoiding this and moving briskly on--which raises the issue of tempo: in the first movement, Heifetz takes a full 2 minutes less than Francescatti (despite Heifetz' somewhat elaborate cadenza), and the remaining movements are similarly timed. As he bustles along, Heifetz tends to vary the force of his notes more subtly than Francescatti, who deploys a wider range of volume levels.

As a result, lovers of the Francescatti approach may find Heifetz clipped, brusque and impersonal, while lovers of the Heifetz approach may find Francescatti slow, heavy and mushy. Or to put it in positive terms, Heifetz excels in maintaining and building rhythmic energy, while Francescatti is best in developing the emotional content of the work and letting it "breathe." It took me a long time to come to appreciate both approaches, and I signal this as a study in contrast. At this low price, you can buy both and decide for yourself. (My favorite? This one.)