Customer Reviews

Beethoven, Sibelius: Violin Concertos

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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.

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.

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.)

This is a treasure!! Francescatti's Beethoven is by far the most beautiful interpretation I've heard!! There are out of tune notes here and there, but the interpretation and overall playing is amazing! Oistrakh's Sibelius is also extremely moving. He brings the Russian touch to the music, and it really works. This CD is a must for any musician, let alone violinist!!

This Oistrakh Sibelius is one of the 20th century's (or any century's) great virtuosos in his prime. The playing defies superlatives -- and if you haven't heard the Sibelius, it's a really wonderful, sweet, approachable -- and kind of haunting -- piece of music that will absolutely stay with you. If you like it, find the Ormandy/Philadelphia recording of the Sibelius 2nd symphony, which I believes dates from the same time.

Zino's interpretation of Beethoven's violin concerto is really THE ONLY ONE. The sheer emotion his playing conveys is beyond comparison. If you don't believe me, listen to the second movement in particular. I own about a dozen versions of this concerto, but all the others are dwarfed in comparison. Besides, the CD edition removes the slight metallic edginess that plagued the admirable vynil edition.

Zino Francescatti's performance of the Beethoven Violin Concerto, Op. 61 with Bruno Walter and the Columbia Symphony Orchestra was recorded in Jan., 1961, when Francescatti was approximately 58-years old. Nevertheless, his skills remained ageless.

In addition, Bruno Walter and the Columbia Symphony Orchestra succeeded in achieving a wonderful balance to Francescatti's approach whereas, Walter's recording of the Concerto in 1947 with Joseph Szigeti and the NY Philharmonic tends to be sluggish.

After just a few bars, one begins to realize that Francescatti's techique can produce an incredibly clear, soft-grained, fluid tone, with unaffected vibrato, and amazingly, gifted intonation. He maintains almost perfect control throughout the work, even in climatic passages. Every phrase is gracefully delivered without excess or affectation.

The result is that the Francescatti/Walter collaboration produced a thoroughly elegant, rich and satisfying, aesthetic musical experience, that is not to be missed.

I have this version of Beethoven's Violin Concerto by Francescatti and Walter on an early Odyssey CD which is not even listed on this website. And surely Beethoven's VC is too short for a CD, so it is good that Sony has reissued it with a coupling, although it is curious that they chose Oistrakh and Ormandy's Sibelius (which I have in a previous outing, on Sony's Masterworks Portrait series, coherently paired with Tchaikovsky by the same forces, Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D Major / Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D Minor), rather than Francescatti's own (with Bernstein; it is coherently paired on Brahms: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D Major Op. 77 / Sibelius: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D minor Op. 47 (The Royal Edition) or on Sibelius: Orchestral Works, a motley but interesting Sibelius collection), or any other concerto by Francescatti.

Anyway, as they are, these are major recordings and it's good to have them available.

The Beethoven Concerto was taped in 1961 and is Walter's third studio recording (after the two he made with Szigeti, one in 1932 in London and the next one in 1947 with the New York Philharmonic, see my review of Beethoven: Violin Concerto; Violin Sonata No. 5 "Spring"), and Francescatti's second (the first was with Ormandy in 1950, Zino Francescatti Plays Beethoven). It is, by far, Walter's best, and by a smaller margin Francescatti's as well.

It has to do with sonics (the 1961 stereo sounds wonderfully natural and offers great presence) but not only. Walter's 1947 recording is disfigured by Szigeti's sour intonation and frequent finger slips. In 1932 Szigeti's purity of tone and very modern style of playing (no wailing portamento there) finds in Walter a wayward and "old-school" accompanist, prone to playing accordion with tempos, especially in the first movement. There is still some of that in 1947, but not as pronounced.

In 1961 Walter is a model of discipline. Not that he is inflexible in tempo, and he slows down and lets Francescatti sing with all stops out when come the more lyrical moments in the first movement. But in the orchestral tuttis Walter adopts a tempo and sticks to it, steady as a rock. As in 1947 (a little less so perhaps) he whips his orchestra to fine muscularity in the fortissimo moments.

Add to that - and it is an phenomenon also encountered in Walter's two Beethoven symphony cycles, the later one in stereo and the earlier one(s) made (mainly) with the New York Phil in (mainly) the late 1940s - that, whatever the reputation of the New Yorkers, the so-called Columbia Symphony Orchestra in 1961 plays MUCH better than them in 1947. The strings' 16th notes in the fortissimo tuttis are cleanly articulated rather than sounding like a mere rumble. In the finale the woodwinds and horns engage in dialogues of marvellous crispness and verve.

Francescatti and Walter's basic conception remains the same as Szigeti-Walter's or Francescatti- Ormandy's: ample, very lyrical, taking time to breathe and sing in the first movement, playing the middle Larghetto more as a Largo, and with a finale that is lively and robust but easy-going: the opposite pole from Heifetz, in both his recordings, with Toscanini in 1940 (Beethoven: Violin Concerto; Piano Concerto No. 3) and Munch in 1955 (Heifetz Plays Beethoven & Brahms) - and I find Heifetz equally lyrical, in a more searing and intense manner. Ormandy in 1950 is marginally more muscular and pressing than Walter 1961, but the latter easily compensates with the added crispness of articulation of his woodwinds, and his lovingly-molded phrasings.

Francescatti is, even more than Szigeti in 1932, the ideal partner to that conception: his tonal production has an unfailing purity, sweetness and pitch-precision. Thanks to the improved sonic presence he sounds better, purer, more angelic, in 1961 with Walter than in 1950 with Ormandy, as recaptured by the Biddulph transfer. He's also corrected some of the - very few - minuscule finger slips from 1950, and has done away with the - very few and very discreet - portamentos on octave leaps.

Beethoven's Concerto can welcome other, more fiery approaches, but this is by all means a classic. You can do different, but hardly better.

Oistrakh-Ormandy Sibelius from 1959 is equally a classic. It is Oistrakh's second studio recording, after the one made with Sixten Ehrling in 1954 (Beethoven/Sibelius: Violin Concertos) and before Rozhdestvenski for Melodiya in 1965 (David Oistrakh: Khachaturian / Sibelius). As for Ormandy, he made two subsequent studio recordings: with Isaac Stern in 1969 (Tchaikovsky, Sibelius: Violin Concertos) and Dylana Jenson in 1980 (Oops ! Out of authorized links. See ASIN:B00000E6EB).

Oistrakh strikes a fine middle balance between the fast and fiery approach of Heifetz, Gitlis and Stern and the more ample view of Camilla Wicks or Ginette Neveu; but make no mistake: by today's standards, his first movement is forward-moving and muscular (compare his timing with Hilary Hahn's: 14:43 against 17:10!). And it is fine like that: the initial allegro isn't changed into a moderato, and it entails no loss of lyricism whatsovever: it pours out of every note of the score. As expected, Oistrakh plays with beautiful and plush tone and, as mentioned, his lyricism is all the more intense that it doesn't linger. As recorded in 1959 the orchestra has great surrounding stereo presence, even boomy basses (and some car rumble in the distance), and in the finale all the solo instruments from the orchestra come out vividly. I can see a few spots which leave place for more biting accents than those demanded by Ormandy from his orchestra, but it chimes well with Oistrakh's highly lyrical approach - and I'm being finicky anyway. Their middle movement develops to exceptional intensity, thanks to the soloist but also to the Philadelphian's great instrumental presence (heart-wrenching trumpets). Their finale is not fast but powerful and vigorous. As everybody else until Hahn (and that includes Heifetz), Oistrakh scrambles to keep in-sync with the orchestra in the fiendish octave leaps, but he plays with great bounce and imagination. I've closely compared this and the 1965 recording with Rozhdestvenski, and the merits are shared. In fact the conception has remained remarkably the same, with a hair of added spaciousness in 1965 and even fuller lyricism, but also sonics exposing a slightly more wiry tone in the slow movement, and with less orchestral and soloistic presence in the finale. Both versions are outstanding and could easily be the one version in anybody's collection, if one was unfortunate enough to be able to afford only one version.

There is heavy competition in the Beethoven. The previous generation of violinists produced a slew of great recordings, and the violinists of the current generation are no slouches either.

Zino Franscescatti was a very elegant violinist. Always tasteful and usually quite restrained. But he evidently fell under the spell of Bruno Walter here and produced a wonderfully warm and earthy version of the Beethoven. The audio press has been so busy going ga ga over the Heifitz version that the Francescatti has received little mention. The Heifitz is also a superb recording, very aristocratic and polished. The Fransescatti makes a great addition for anyone who already has the Heifitz, as the personality of these performances is so different, and yet both are great recordings.

Oistrakh's recording of the Sibelius was originally issued on LP with Ormandy's spellbinding version of The Swan Of Tuonela. An ear candy combination. I cannot be objective about this recording. I bought three copies of the LP, so that I would never be without a fresh, static free version. Then I bought the first digital reissue when it came out. Oistrakh plays this with more passion and with a more beautiful tone than anyone of his generation or ours. Heifitz by comparison is ice cold. Mutter and Spivakovsky do give Oistrakh keen competition, but like the young Ali, Oistrakh is still the winner and champeen.

It is almost unbelievable that two such outstanding recordings should be issued together on a single disc, and at budget price to boot. Highly recommended.

This is a really great CD, featuring two of the 20th century's best violinists - Zino Francescatti on the Beethoven and David Oistrakh on the Sibelius. While the majority of my recordings are by modern day artists (Hahn, Chang, Bell, Midori, etc), I have several recordings by older artists, and for the most part I can tell a real difference in their playing styles compare to modern day players. To me, the older artists seem to play with a much more elegant, restrained style than the newer artists (with the exception of, perhaps Heifetz). While both artists play magnificently on this CD, I would say that this more elegant playing serves the Beethoven much better than the Sibelius.

The Beethoven isn't really one of my favorite concerti, mostly because it's so long that I rarely listen to the entire thing (all movements). However, I have listened to the individual movements enough to recognize the warm, joyful playing that Francescatti delivers.

The Sibelius, one of my all-time favorite concertos (for any instrument), is played exceptionally well by Oistrakh, though I think his playing style is a little too reserved for my tastes. To me, it often sounds like Oistrakh is playing in a more classical style than the Sibelius warrants. Compared with a recording at the other end of the spectrum (for example, Salerno-Sonnenberg), Oistrakh's playing is just a little boring, particularly on the spectacular final movement. Don't get me wrong, he plays beautifully, but I just prefer Sibelius to be a little grittier. However, to Oistrakh's credit, his playing is always perfect and controlled, even in incredibly difficult spots where some other artists can sound border-line out of control. It seems that playing with fire and abandon often comes at the price of clarity, and playing with technical clarity and perfection often comes at the price of excitement. That being said, no recording can really be said to be better than the other... I just happen to prefer the sibelius to be played slightly closer to the "fiery abandon" side of the spectrum (however, my favorite version of this concerto, by Midori, seems to find a perfect balance between the two extremes). Enjoy