Customer Reviews

Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D / Brahms: Violin Concerto in D / Aaron Rosand

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Rosand's tone is enough to make your heart melt.

But his musicality is just as impressive, and here, finally in excellent sound with an excellent orchestra, he gives us a wonderful set of Brahms and Beethoven violin concerti.

For Brahms, I still like Milstein a lot (with Steinberg, on EMI). To me, Milstein and Rosand have similar tone qualities, but they are definitely different musicians. For Beethoven I appreciate Kremer with Haroncourt (Teldec) and for an almost downright raw approach with an "interesting" orchestral accompaniment, Tetzlaff with Gielen on a super-cheapie label (Point Classics; coupled with one of the most boring renditions of Beethoven's 2nd PC I've ever endured).

Acquire this album. Enjoy it. Treasure it. I sure have.

Five stars for this extraordinary recording from legendary violinist Aaron Rosand. I love this CD; if it were an LP I would have worn it out already. In fact, it's my favorite thing to buy and give my friends right now. It has also had great reviews in Fanfare and Strad magazine: "that famed purity of tone and sparkling interpretative personality prove ideal in the Beethoven Concerto, played here with a wide-eyed freshness remarkable from a man who must have played the work hundreds of times." You can hear an excerpt of this CD and others on Mr. Rosand's website at aaronrosand.com. Enjoy!

Rosand is splendid in both masterpieces of the violin literate. First honors go to the Beethoven: fast and eloquent, it cuts through years of interpretive detritus that have slowed the "average" interpretation into treacly grandiloquence. In the late Heifetz mold, Rosand maintains a driving pace, but without the hyperactive edge. Inouye provides great support --- the Monte Carlo is not merely well-rehearsed, as has plagued Rosand in past productions. Very good rendition of the Heifetz cadenza.

The Brahms is also blessed with quick tempi and the artist's deep appreciation for the work. I've heard him play it in rehearsal with the San Jose, and I must say that this was much more compelling. Things get a little ragged in the cadenza, but overall, this comes close to the immortal Milstein's Capitol recording. And that's high praise indeed.

This is my favorite recording of the Beethoven. Rosand's playing is so exciting, and his ability to retain the structural integrity of the piece is so complete, that when I heard his performance for the first time it was a revelatory experience.
I also recommend his complete Bach sonatas and partitas, and his complete Beethoven violin sonatas. The Bach and the Beethoven/Brahms were recorded when Rosand was 71 years old! There's virility and enthusiasm in his playing, which is both incandescent and intellectual at the same time. I found his Tchaikovsky to be a disappointment, but nobody's perfect!

This recording is so expressive, so pure, and so truly musical it's a rare pleasure to experience. I've owned many interpretations of these concertos, but this is by far the most soulful, masterful, moving, and touching I have ever heard.

When I first listened to this disc I compared it to other recordings I know, and I was, frankly, disappointed. In the Beethoven I missed Kreisler's sweetness of tone, Hahn's immaculate rhythm and intonation, and Chung's blazing emotion. The Brahms seemed tame compared to Mutter's 1997 tour de force. In addition, a minor flub in the first few bars of the Beethoven turned me off early on.

However, this disc has since grown on me, for the best of reasons: its sheer musicality. Rosand's playing is consistently thoughtful, respectful without being timid, and to my ears is possessed of a wonderful singing quality. The pleasures of this recording are subtle, and unfold felicitously over time.

IMO this disc is a worthy addition to any collection, and a steal at the price (less than $10 as of this writing!).

I have always admired the playing of Aaron Rosand but have generally associated him with violinistic fireworks, not the meat-and-potatoes works of the violin literature. But what two concerti could be more mainstream than the Beethoven and the Brahms? So, here I was expecting good but not great performances from Rosand and, let's face it, a second-tier orchestra (the Monte Carlo Philharmonic) under a conductor I'd never heard of before, Derrick Inouye.

First, a word about Rosand's sound. The tones he produces on his G-string are are rich and lustrous as any I know. His upper range is preternaturally brilliant, and his mid-range is stronger, richer and warmer than I seem to recall. This was recorded in 1999 if I'm not mistaken, so this is later Rosand than I've heard before, so maybe he's one of those artists who continues to grow over time. Whatever the reasons, the sound of the violin on this recording is as good as it gets.

Rosand has never been one to linger in beautiful tone, though. He has always been a player who got on with it. Both these quintessential violin concertos benefit from that; they have, it seems to me, been played more and more slowly and 'meaningfully' over the fifty years or so that I've been hearing performances of them. (Although, I must admit a recent concert performance of the Beethoven I heard with Jaime Laredo playing and conducting was of the same 'stick to business' style and benefited thereby.) It's as if Rosand has brushed away the cobwebs -- or perhaps it would be more appropriate to say that he washed off the accretion of treacle that has adhered to these two concerti. This is not to say that either concerto sounds rushed. Rather, each sounds -- here's that word again -- 'meaningful' in a musical rather than sentimental sense. It is as if one is hearing these so-familiar works anew. It's hard to think of a better compliment than that.

Whatever the reasons, I find these two performances to now be among my favorites. And all this for less that $10. That would seem to me to suggest a 'buy' recommendation.

Scott Morrison