Beethoven & Tchaikovsky: Violin Concertos

Ludwig van Beethoven (Composer), Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky (Composer), George Szell (Conductor), William Steinberg (Conductor), Staatskapelle Berlin (Orchestra), Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Staatskapelle Berlin, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
• Conductor: George Szell, William Steinberg
• Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven, Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky
• Audio CD (February 22, 2000)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Naxos
• ASIN: B00004HYLG
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #97,762 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Violin Concerto in D major, Op.61: Allegro ma non troppo

2. Violin Concerto in D major, Op.61: Larghetto

3. Violin Concerto in D major, Op.61: Rondo: Allegro

4. Violin Concerto In D Major, Op.35: Allegro moderato - Cadenza

5. Violin Concerto In D Major, Op.35: Canzonetta: Andante

6. Violin Concerto In D Major, Op.35: Finale: Allegro vivacissimo

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Huberman's Brilliant, Eccentric, Inspired Tchaikovsky, May 10, 2005

By 

Jeffrey Lipscomb (Sacramento, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beethoven & Tchaikovsky: Violin Concertos (Audio CD)

SHORT REVIEW: This cheap Naxos CD brings together two legendary concerto performances by one of the most brilliant violinists on record. The Tchaikovsky is a tour de force of virtuosity, while the Beethoven is well-played if rather eccentric. The Tchaikovsky (from 1928) enjoys a better transfer here than the 1934 Beethoven. This CD is worth its modest price just to have Huberman's exuberant Tchaikovsky. And if you want these two performances on one disc, this Naxos CD is simply the only game in town.

LONGER REVIEW: This CD is compromised on several fronts, some related to the quality of the transfers, and others deriving from the performances. To judge from the Amazon editorial review here, one might assume that the Beethoven is a worthier reading than the Tchaikovsky (I think it's the other way around). That review is also in error regarding the transfers: only the Tchaikovsky transfer work was done by Mark Obert-Thorn (the lesser Beethoven was done by David Lennick).

Here is a brief discussion of just why I find this Naxos CD rather disappointing:

1. While Obert-Thorn's transfer of the Tchaikovsky is very good, I still prefer the sound heard on a 4-disc CD set from EMI (1993) titled "Tchaikovsky Historical" (absurdly, it's now out of print). The Naxos transfer brings the orchestra into fuller view at the expense of the soloist, while in EMI's Huberman is more prominent. He's the reason I'm listening in the first place, so I opt for the EMI collection. The latter is sort of a mixed bag: I'll probably never sit through Karajan's "Romeo & Juliet" or Cantelli's 5th Symphony again, but this set has the only CD transfer of Furtwangler's superb 4th Symphony (with the Vienna Philharmonic) and an excellent transfer of Solomon's 1st Piano Concerto (Dobrowen & the Philharmonia).

2. For sheer drama and virtuoso playing, Huberman is in a class of his own. But there are certainly other versions of the Tchaikovsky that convey more of the work's poetry, such as Oistrakh's 60th birthday "live" concert account with Rozhdestvensky - it's in an indispensable 5-disc Melodiya CD set (and it doesn't have the Huberman version's large cuts in the score, especially in the 3rd mvt). Another poetic version I wouldn't be without is the "live" 1940 Erica Morini reading, with Igor Stravinsky conducting the NY Phil. on a Doremi CD.

3. This way with Beethoven, to my ears, is a shade relentless, and I find most of Szell's conducting here rather foursquare and metronomic. I could name a dozen conductors who bring more feeling and perception to this score than Szell, perhaps none more so than the "live" 1953 Furtwangler account with Schneiderhan (mine's on DG Heliodor LP). The wacky 1st mvt. cadenza used by Huberman - a Frankensteinian amalgam of Beethoven & Paganini - is fascinating, but hardly comparable to the usual cadenzas by Joachim or Kreisler. Beethoven didn't write a cadenza here, but he did compose one for his piano transcription of the violin concerto (with a prominent part for tympani). An interesting performance of the latter was on an ancient SPA LP conducted by F. Charles Adler, with Helen Schnabel (Artur Schnabel's daughter-in-law) as soloist. Among historic performances of the violin concerto, I still prefer Kreisler/Blech (with the Kreisler cadenza, of course, on M&A), Szigeti/Walter (on EMI - it uses the Joachim cadenza, although Szigeti's stereo re-make with Dorati for Mercury used the Busoni cadenza), and Adolf Busch/Fritz Busch (mine is on M&A LP: Busch plays his own tasteful cadenza).

4. In my reviews of several Weingartner Beethoven performances on Naxos, I noted that the transfers suffered from excessive use of noise reduction, and that's EXACTLY what's wrong with THIS Beethoven concerto. This Huberman is also available on an APR CD (with Huberman's stunning account of Lalo's "Symphonie Espagnole") in FAR better sound (and also for a much higher price). Even my cheap Magic Talent CD (where the Beethoven is coupled with the interesting Casals/Szell recording of Dvorak's Cello Concerto) has much better sound than this Naxos.

If you are primarily interested in Huberman's GREAT account of the Tchaikovsky, this inexpensive Naxos CD is more than adequate. But if you are a Szell fan or appreciate Huberman's way with the Beethoven more than I do, you'll probably be a little disappointed here.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievable bargain!, June 14, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Beethoven & Tchaikovsky: Violin Concertos (Audio CD)

This is an unbelievable bargain! Huberman's recordings of Beethoven and Tchaikovsky concerti are among the best ever made. The Beethoven is probably the most heroic and freewheeling recording I have ever heard (and cadenzas have incredible brilliance). Tchaikovsky is dramatic and wonderfully expressive. Huberman's tone production is undoubtedly old-fashioned (with relatively sparing use of vibrato), but his personality comes through with remarkable clarity. The transfer is excellent. Perhaps not for "hi-fi" buffs (after all the recording dates from late 1920s to 1930s), but for pretty much everybody else, it is strongly recommended.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You could spend a lot more and get a lot less!, October 22, 2001

By 

David Paisley (Lakewood, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beethoven & Tchaikovsky: Violin Concertos (Audio CD)

Since I live in the greater Cleveland area, I suppose it's natural for me to have an affinity for Szell's Beethoven--although my standard of comparison is always Furtwangler. What makes this recording great, however, is Huberman's incredible immersion in the Beethoven (he's no slouch with Tchaikovsky, either!). He was not afraid to take risks! There's a grittiness to this performance that puts it right at the top of my choices of performances of this concerto. It certainly deserves multiple hearings. The cadenzas are particularly brilliant, and this is one of those 78-era recordings that has a particularly beautiful sound, I suspect even before the fine remastering job Naxos has done. There are a few such recordings that stand out in my mind, not the least among them Rachmaninov's own recording of his second concerto.

The restoration of the Tchaikovsky is very nice, too, but I think you'll notice that the quality of the original is not up to the standard of the Beethoven.

I've had the opportunity over the years to hear a number of note-perfect, pretty, phoned-in performances of both of these concerti, both live and on records. You may have had this experience--the performance is wonderful while it's happening, but a half-hour later one has a hard time remembering what one heard. This is definitely NOT such a performance of the Beethoven. It's one to remember. While audiophiles may not find the sound altogether pleasing, if you care about these concerti, this CD belongs in your library--and at Naxos' incredible price, one can hardly afford not to own it.