Brahms: Violin Concerto; Mozart: Sinfonia

Johannes Brahms (Composer), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Composer), Otto Klemperer (Conductor), David Oistrakh (Conductor), French Radio Orchestra (Orchestra), Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: French Radio Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
• Conductor: Otto Klemperer, David Oistrakh
• Composer: Johannes Brahms, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Audio CD (August 13, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: EMI Classics
• ASIN: B00005NPJ1
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #99,523 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #30 in Music > Classical > Forms & Genres > Symphonies > Sinfonia Concertante

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For this price, by it! Heck, for any price, buy it!, July 28, 2006

By 

John Grabowski (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brahms: Violin Concerto; Mozart: Sinfonia (Audio CD)

Yep, masterpiece sums this one up. So does "no brainer": two of the greatest compositions in the literature, played by two of the greatest fiddlists (did I just make a word up?) in history, on one cheap CD. The sound is good, though overly-reverberant and a bit fuzzy in the Brahms (some of you may not notice; me, I like my sound dryer than this), the soloists are stupendous, and, as the Amazon review notes, this is one of the deepest and most emotional Adagios in the Brahms ever. I'm often befuddled by soloists and conductors who play the climax of this movement, the final return of the main singing theme (where the strings begin a pizzicato accompaniment), so glibly: often they just skate over it, as though they're afraid of the emotion or they think it's too schmaltzy for a major masterpiece. Well, in the right hands, it's not schmaltzy; it is, however, deeply *romantic,* and Brahms was, after all, the king of the High Romantics. Listening to this stately, rich performance by David O, you realize why many colleagues (Sviatoslav Richter for one) considered him the greatest violinist of the 20th century. Hard to argue, with playing like this as your evidence.

The Sinfonia Concertante K. 364 is one of my favorite pieces of music, period. It is unique in Mozart's output. With its depth and elegance, structural surety and technical perfection, you'd think it was a "mature" work (if you can call works of anyone who died at 35 "mature"), but no, he wrote this when he was in his early 20s and still in Salzburg living with pops. This is very fine, with son Igor Oistrakh playing violin and daddy handling viola chores and conducting, but it's not quite my first choice: that honor would go to Stern and Zukerman with Barenboim on Sony. Before you write that one off because of Barenboim, I should hasten to add that he stays out of the way and doesn't muck things up too much, conducting with a little too much thickness in spots but otherwise okay. And Stern and Zukerman *own own own* this work. Their interplay is incredible and they are so tight you'd think they are joined at the hip, and their tone is beautiful and burnished. That's not to say that this is a bad recording by any means, and I'm glad I have it, but the listener who is as passionate about K. 364 as I am should also own the Stern/Zukerman collaboration, and it is available on CD, so rejoice.

The booklet inside is quite amusing and bizarre in its layout and artwork--open it up and you'll see what I mean: paintings are cropped in non-sensical ways. Underneath the plastic that holds the CD in place is reproduced a painting called The Flower Seller by William Powell Frith. It has no relationship with either work. I think record companies just randomly pick old-fashioned artwork for their CDs, whether it makes any sense or not. No wonder few people today besides Klaus Heymann know how to run a classical label.

But who cares about artwork? You want to look at paintings, go to a museum. You want two German masterpieces played brilliantly and at a great price, buy this CD. As I said, a no-brainer. Just like the people who brought it to you.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Are low cost and high quality compatible? YES!, March 28, 2003

By 

josh6T6 (Haifa, Israel) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brahms: Violin Concerto; Mozart: Sinfonia (Audio CD)

Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante has been a favorite of mine ever since I first heard it some 30 years ago. I have listened to numerous renditions of this work and can state my unequivocal preference for the performance of David and Igor Oistrakh with the BPO (not to be confused with the Igor and Valery Oistrakh version on the Doron label, which--although quite good--is inferior to the one with David and Igor).

That such an outstanding performance should be offered to music lovers at a sub-budget price is to the eternal credit of the EMI label.

The whipped-cream topping on this cake is David Oistrakh and Otto Klemperer performing the Brahms Violin Concerto.

So...what are you waiting for?

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great, but the Szell/Oistrakh is far better, February 15, 2006

By 

Angus (Bristol, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brahms: Violin Concerto; Mozart: Sinfonia (Audio CD)

This is indeed a great performance of the Brahms, though it is not a patch on the outstanding Szell/Oistrakh recording in the so-called "Great Recordings of the Century" series. And in case anyone thinks I am biased, I bought this recording as well, being the die-hard Klemperer fan that I am. And yes, I'm afraid to say that Szell knocks him for six. For me the best thing about this CD has to be the Mozart, which is glorious.

I would give the Brahms about a 3 out of five, for what feels to me like occasional moments of drift in Klemperer's accompaniment, and moments of not-quite-so-good interpretation from Oistrakh (if this is horrifying you, please do compare this recording with his performance with Szell, where his playing and Szell's accompaniment are peerless. I would be amazed if you disagreed). Five stars for the Mozart... and I am not a big Mozart fan either...