Customer Reviews

Dmitri Shostakovich: Violin Concerto, Op. 99; Cello Concerto, Op. 107

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Rostropovich in the Cello Concerto is superb and, without question, this is the greatest STUDIO account of the Violin Concerto. But please note: Oistrakh and Mitropoulos gave the American premiere of the Violin Concerto in a LIVE radio broadcast performance on New Year's Day 1956, and the studio recording on this Sony CD was made the following day. That LIVE premiere performance can be heard (excellent sound!) in a 10-disc box set from the New York Philharmonic called "The Historic Broadcasts 1923 to 1987." It's an expensive set ($225), but it contains some other extraordinary items, such as Stravinsky conducting Tchaikovsky's 2nd Symphony, Artur Rubinstein's finest account of the Chopin Piano Concerto #1 with Bruno Walter, Kirsten Flagstad and Walter in an incredible Immolation Scene from Wagner's Gotterdammerung, Stokowski's only recording of Mendelssohn's "Scotch" Symphony, and a great performance by Heifetz with Toscanini of the Brahms Violin Concerto. While I'm not a great fan of Heifetz, this was his finest account of the Brahms.

But the REAL highlight of that NY Phil. set: the SUPERLATIVE performance by Oistrakh and Mitropoulos in the Shostakovich Violin Concerto. While this Columbia studio recording is indeed wonderful, it doesn't quite touch the inspired intensity of Oistakh's "live" premiere. Of course, not all "live" performances are better than their studio counterparts (e.g., I much prefer Sviatoslav Richter's studio Liszt concertos on Philips to his "live" concert recording on BBC Legends). But Oistrakh and Mitropoulos in the premiere tightened the screws and threw off sparks "live" that even this superb studio performance doesn't quite match.

This Sony Columbia Masterworks CD is worth its price just to have the outstanding account of the Cello Concerto with Rostropovich. But if you want to hear Oistrakh's interpretation of the Violin Concerto at its absolute zenith, you should try to hear the NY Phil. set too.

Highly recommended.

Say what you will about modern recordings of the Shostakovich Violin Concerto No. 1, Op. 99, this recording, its first, is the best. In fifty years of collecting records, I put this in the top ten of any recording I've ever owned. Oistrakh, its dedicatee, and Mitropoulos and his New York orchestra played with unparalleled intensity. The Passacaglia, the heart of the work, is played more slowly than in modern recordings, and with a fervor that burns itself into your heart. The Cello Concerto is also given a classic performance by Rostropovich and Ormandy; Mason Jones, first horn of the Philadelphia Orchestra, plays the very important horn solos brilliantly.

This is a wonderful pairing of two of the great Shostakovich
concertoes. If I could award it 6 or 7 stars I would!
These are the "premiere" recordings of these works in the West,
and nothing has quite equalled them in their brilliance of conception and execution since. We are presented with the marvelous gifts of hearing these pieces played by the soloists
for whom the composer wrote them, and the rewards are thrilling
and unsurpassed. As noted elsewhere, David Oistrakh was one of the half dozen or so greatest violinists of the 20th Century, and besides his flawless technique he exhibits the warmth of tone, the sensitivity, the flexiblity and the overall musicality
which set him apart as a performer. For his part, Dimitri Mitropoulos accompanies his soloist with the type of genius too few conductors bring to this piece. Very few conductors were as gifted as Mitropoulos in looking at an unfamiliar score, imagining it whole and realizing that conception with brilliance.
Despite the monoural sound, the New York Philharmonic has seldom sounded better.

Likewise, Mstislav Rostropovich was one of the half dozen or so
greatest cellists of the last century. Only Casals, DuPre and
Yo-Yo Ma deserve to have their names mentioned along with his.
Rostropovich brings similar musical gifts to his reading of the cello concerto as Oistrakh brings to the violin concerto, together with a personality which expresses both the humor and the fatalism of Shostakovich with such subtlety, it takes a while for the listener to appreciate it all. Yet the real revelation here is the conducting of Eugene Ormandy. This is Ormandy before he began to play it safe, and concentrated more on lushness of orchestral tone than in challenging his listeners.
While that glorious "Philadelphia sound" is present throughout the cello concerto, it is well contained and well directed, and always at the service of both the soloist and the music.

If you can find any recording of either of these concertoes that comes up to these, please let me know.

Shostakovich's Violin Concerto #1 in A minor is indeed one of the composer's most profound works. Highly autobiographical, like many of his other works that were written during crises in his life, the concerto is a serious, introspective work relieved in the second movement by biting satire and in the final movement by one of his short "burlesca" movements which he always wrote so well. The music also reflects the torment of the Russian people during that time -- a soulful project that Shostakovich took upon himself to document during and after the Stalin years. The concerto is certainly one of the greatest works of the twentieth century, and, in my opinion, this recording is one of the most intense and heartfelt performances ever captured on tape. Listen to the poignant and brooding theme of the first movement, marked "Nocturne. Adagio." The theme is insistent, and David Oistrakh plays it with warmth, depth and nobility. Mitropoulos, one of the most sensitive of conductors, forms each phrase expressively. The second movement, filled with rhythmic complexities and featuring a blazing, manic Jewish dance, is played brilliantly by the orchestra and soloist. No other recording of the piece captures that intensity of Mitropoulos and the New York Philharmonic, who was, at the time, at the peak of their form. The long Passacaglia of the third movement seems to speaking for the entire nation of Russia, with a heart-rending theme, beautifully developed and performed, that later becomes the basis of Shostakovich's finest cadenza, an extended emotional passage that leads directly into the short, violent "Burlesca" concluding the masterpiece. The performance is a historic document, recorded in excellent mono sound in 1956 at Carnegie Hall, a day after the successful American premier of the work. Newer recordings by Mullova, Perlman, and Salerno-Sonnenberg have more vivid stereo sound, but none of them can match the intensity of the Mitropoulos-Oistrakh recording. This recording is in a class by itself. I had bought the original LP while I was at college and wore it out. I was overjoyed to find that Sony had reissued it on CD at mid-price and with pages of documentation and photographs of the original sessions. The Sony CD also includes the brilliant Shostakovich Cello Concerto #1 with Rostropovich (for whom the work was written) and the Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy, captured on tape in 1959 stereo sound with Shostakovich, himself, at the recording session. The concerto begins with the driving four-note theme that Shostakovich had used is other works and which had become a sort of motto for him, and leads the listener through a mournful second movement, an prolonged cadenza based on the brooding theme, and a concluding allegro with another of Shostakovich's vigorous Russian dances. Rostropovich literally tears into this concerto. The listener will rarely hear more committed cello playing; Rostropovich bites into the cadenza with noble passion. In short, these are recordings that all Shostakovich enthusiasts greatly admire and have in their collections. It is generous of Sony to put these two incredible recordings onto one CD at mid-price, with good sound and excellent documentation, adequate program notes, and interesting cardboard packaging designed to appear like the original LP's.

These are absolutely gorgeous recordings of both pieces. Indeed, these are the first ever recordings of both pieces, both recorded just months after their world premieres in the USSR, in 1956 and 1959. Sony have done an excellent job with the remastering, and the sound is crisp and clean.

As for the playing - Oistrakh and Rostropovich in their prime, with Shostakovich present and advising during both recordings - what more needs to be said. Shostakovich dedicated the First Cello Concerto to Rostropovich, his pupil and friend, and he almost seems to breathe the music. Oistrakh is magnificent in the Violin Conecrto, especially in the fast and furious finale. The New York Philharmonic under Mitropoulos and the Phildaelphia Orchestra under Ormandy are pretty damn good as well, and both pieces are fiendishly difficult in places.

Sorry this is praise is a little over the top, but it is entirely deserved!

I'm a great fan of piano concerti, not string concerti, definitely not cello concerti. But this one makes me go weak in the knees. I first heard it performed by Rostropovich 30 years ago. It made my heart pound. It still does. This performance is the best I've heard. The sound quality is excellent, the orchestra is excellent, and Rostropovich is at the height of his powers. The concerto is modern, but not in the ugly atonal way of much modern orchestral music. It has a driving pulse, simple but powerful melodic lines that linger in the memory, a passionate, almost erotic, exoticism. A friend of mine who didn't like it referred to it as "cosmic debris." I can sort of understand his metaphor, but this trails a glorious plume on re-entry.

The violin concerto was for me just something extra on the disc. But after a careful listening, I'm impressed. Oistrakh was a top-notch violinist, and he was in exteme good form for this performance. The sound quality is good, but not as good as in the cello concerto. The orchestra is dazzling. I won't be skipping over this performance to get to the cello concerto - they make a fine pair in this recording. This disc is a must-have for any lover of 20th century concert music.

I fear by the time this review is read this CD may already be unavailable. hat would be a pity, because the performances are standout for both works. Both Oistrakh and Rostropovich are without peer in this kind of music (and for that matter, without peer in general) and these are probably the recordings of this music I would recommend above all others. Most reviews concentrate on the violin concerto, but I would single out the powerful and haunting cello concerto for praise. Rostropovich brings precise technical finesse to the first movement, and an unparalleled lyricism to the Moderato. The cadenza is DSCH at his eerie and haunting best. Ormandy and the Philadelphians provide rock-steady support that will make you miss that wonderful institution of yesteryear. (The present-day PO just can't compare in my opinion.) So, if you do see this CD around, GRAB IT. The Sony Heritage line is disappearing fast.

Oistrakh was one of the best ten violinist in the XX century. This selected group includes, in my opinion, Joseph Szigetti, Jasha Heifetz, Ginette Neveu, Isaac Stern, Leonid Kogan, Jacques Thibaud, Henryk Szerying, Artur Grumiaux, and Joseph Fuchs.
Oistrakh made too many golden recordings, certainly. But no one of them reached the sublime heights of this antjhological one.
The performing is absorbing since the first bars and sudenly you are in the mood. This faculty of makes us drowning in the spirit of the work is fast to feel, and just a few performers can do this!
Like performer, Oistrakh had undoubtly, many virtues. His deep comittment with every note he played, was perhaps, the most important. Remember by example, that legendary recording of Frank's violin sonata given in December 31 1968 in Moscow, with Sviatoslav Richter. This is a must that shows how great was this virtuosi and honest artist.
Don't let this opportunity for buying this record. One of the great recordings in the century.

Oistrakh and Rostropovich give absolutely stunning performances on this album which is sure to become a classic and a reference for othe soloists. In the violin concerto, Oistrakh makes the music much clearer than younger artists tend to. He makes the opening Nocturne sound very mysterios and a good deal more interesting than Midouri does. In the scherzo, he is able to overcome his normaly "fat" tone and give a very clear rendition of the music. Some would argue that Midori's playing of this section is more interesting than Oistrakh's, but I think it's overworked. Oistrakh on the other hand plays very naturaly without too many special effects to ruin the music with. My favorite movemement is the passacaglia. It is here where Oistrakh is at his best. He captures the tender, touching aspect of this movement and also handles the cadenza at the end incredibly well. The final movement is consistant with the rest of the performance: amazing. Oistrakh does the fast sections with incredible balance and intonation. Dimitry Mitropopulous conducts the New York Philharmonic very well, the accompnament is much better than it is in the Midori version. Rostropovich's playing of the cello concerto is fantastic. He is able to transform what I've always thought of as a boring peice into a very interesting peformance. All four movements are VERY good, much better, in my opinion than Schiff or Yo-Yo. The cadenza is very well read, although it could use a bit more feeling, it is certainly better than Schiff's over-emotional interpretation. And Ormandy cunducts Phili with his usual skill and presision. My one complaint of this disk is the booklet. It is extremely uninformative and gives no interpretation of the peice at all. Instead it talks about how amazing the soloists are (something that belongs in a review like this one-not in a cd pamphlet).

Had I not known about it, I would have given the Columbia 5 stars. Oistrahk's performance is the same, but the interaction between soloist and orchestra is much more natural, and Mrvinsky unearths more of Shostakovitch's brief "beams of light" in the first mov't. I have it on a Monitor Lp and you get Oistrahk's great interpretation plus a much better and intense orchestral accompaniment.