Customer Reviews

Ginette Neveu Plays Brahms

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I can't believe how cheap this CD issue is. Grab it while you can.
Ginette Neveu was one of the world's greatest violinists -- not just amongst the most promising, but already amongst the world's greatest -- when she died, in her 20s, when the plane taking her on a tour of South America slammed into the side of a mountain.
In her brief recording career she recorded only two concertos, the Brahms and Sibelius, and of all the transcriptions from the 78s I've heard, this Brahms is the cleanest and the most vital in sound. The 'official' EMI CD of this recording is dull and stodgy in its soundscape by comparison, with all vestiges of life drained from it.
There is also a very good Acanta label recording taken from a live concert -- I would seek that as a supplement.
Dutton have also released the Sibelius concerto on another CD -- I hope they've done as good a transfer job with that, as I've just ordered that disc !
On this disc, the Brahms is presented alonside a few shorter 'encore' style items, in which she's often accompanied by her pianist brother, who also died in the plane crash.
Her premature death was a great loss to the world of music. You can see as well as hear her, in the brilliant Warner Video DVD 'The Art of Violin' -- I've got the Region Four edition of that, and it is being issued soon in the States.

Greetings!

I recently purchased the Dutton recording of Ginette Neveu playing the Brahms Violin Concerto (w/Suk Four Pieces, Op.17; Chopin Nocturne No. 20; Ravel Tzigane; Falla Danse Espagnole; Dinici Hora Staccato--budget priced to boot!) and I must say I am stunned by her Brahms! It is AMAZING!!!!! Her playing transforms the concerto. For years, many recordings (and I have heard many) have turned the Brahms into a soupy pseudo-violin-symphony, but Neveu plys the heck out of the concerto--controlling it like an honest dialogue between soloist and orchestra.

I was floored by her control of the instrument, her audacious attack on double stops and chords, and her impeccable sonority. This was, sadly to say, a late purchase, but I think it is probably the best version of the piece I have ever heard, with unbelievable clarity, passion and drama. Hearing this disc has also allowed me to get a sense of the tragedy of her early death, because, undoubtedly, she would stand higher than many of the men in her generation. The Poulenc sonata, dedicated in memory to Neveu, now holds an even more special meaning to me! (I also see where Mutter and Hahn have gotten their inspiration from for their Brahms recordings.) What a disc!! Definitely a must-buy!!!

Neveu belonged to another level of performers. His playing was incredibly stunnig precise filled with comittment warmth and fire. This version only has a contender. Herself in a further version recorded with the Munich Orchestra conducted by Hans Schmidt Isserted in 1948 . However this Dobrowen's version is amazing. and very close to that approach. (The difference is the mature in the musical thought of Neveu in that one).
After you listen please, try with Heifetz and believe or not, Heifetz is absoltely cold and in certain way he doesn't reach the elusive height and even he shows a understanding spirit of this work.
And i sure you. I'm not kidding. Both versions are hair raising and overwheelming. Please make yourself a favour and compare by yourself.

Due to the dual factors of her untimely death and the poor quality of recordings of the era, Ginette Neveu is sadly underappreciated-- she stands among the best violinists of the 20th century.

Don't miss the chance to hear one of the few available recordings of her performances. If you can get past the sound quality (think of Toscanini) you will be amazed at the power and purity of her sound and interpretation.

Anthony Clarke's review states that her only recordings are of the Sibelius and the Brahms, but there is also a CD of her playing the Beethoven as well as Ravel's Tzigane and Chausson's Poeme-- it's on the "Historic Broadcast Performances" catalog of the "Music and Arts" company. If you can find it, buy it; it's one of the best recordings of the over-recorded concerto that I've heard.

Had some fun comparing Neveu's four performances of the Brahms Violin Concerto. First of all, they're all worth listening to. My favourite is the 1948 Hamburg live performance with Schmidt-Isserstedt (best currently avaliable remastering, taken from the original master: the Scribendum double CD - costly, but Schmidt-Isserstedt's Max Reger couplings there are great), it's the most intense and the orchestral accompaniment is wonderful, what concentration and unity of vision! (Played this to a friend who owns and loves this Dutton release, you should have seen him rush to get himself a copy of the Scribendum double CD, even though he's got little interest in the Mozart and Reger couplings there). My second favourite is the 1949 The Hague live performance with Dorati (best remastering so far: the Pristine Audio revised Music & Arts double CD), closely followed by the 1946 studio recording with Dobrowen (best remastering thus far: this Dutton release). The 1948 Baden-Baden live performance with Desormière on Tahra is really worth hearing also despite some issues with the sound quality.
Please note I'm not taking the time to type a review to convince anyone not to buy this Dutton release (given the moderate cost and the couplings, it would be silly not to - it's also quite simply a great place to start), but to point to what I'm aware die-hard Neveu fans already know: that if you like this, you'll also want to hear the live versions - and if you do not like this, you should still hear the live versions! Seriously, they're not mutually exclusive: that friend later confessed he had always admired the studio recording more than truly loved it, and that it was only upon hearing the Hamburg live version that he was completely bowled over by the intensity of Neveu's playing and artistic vision.

Greetings from Switzerland, David.

Ginette Neveu would have lived on to become one of the last Century's greatest violinists had she not died tragically and prematurely at the age of 30 in an airplane crash in 1949. Possessing a brilliant technique with a wide range of tonal colors and emotions at her command, she brought great fire, passion, intensity and conviction to everything she played.

Neveu left a small recorded legacy, among which is this 1947 recording of the Brahms Violin Concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Issay Dobrowen. This is a most distinguished performance. Neveu brought to the much-played and recorded warhorse concerto a youthful, firy passion that is hard to resist. This makes the recording something truly special and unique among the many put down on the gramophone for the Opus. The miniature pieces that fill up the rest of the disc are further testimonies of Neveu's inimitable artistry and musicianship.

The remastering by Michael Dutton serves to highlight Neveu's vibrant, sinewy tone, which emerges from the CD with startling immediacy. In so doing, the orchestra in the Brahms concerto sounds relatively recessed when compared to a previous transfer by EMI Reference, but this is a small price to pay.

[Note: There have been two other versions of Neveu playing the Brahms Violin Concerto, both published on the French Tahra label: one with the French National Orchestra conducted by Roger Desormiere on 4 Apr 1948 {in a three-CD set titled "Tribute to Ginette Neveu", on TAH 2.355/57}; another one is with the North German Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt on 25 Apr 1948, coupled with Brahms's Violin Sonata No. 3 accompanied by Neveu's brother Jean on the piano, on TAH 465. These live radio broadcasts find Neveu in even more expressive and elated form, but the CDs are very hard to obtain - so grab it if you happen to encounter one available online or in the record store.]

There is certainly no doubt about Neveu's genius as an instrumentalist. She sometimes makes other violinists sound merely competent. Aside from the main work, the Brahms Violin Concerto, this disc brings her together with her brother, pianist Jean Neveu, in pieces by Suk, Chopin, Ravel, deFalla and Dinicu. These compositions contain a strong exotic element which the pair most ably conveys with plenty of flair and emotion. At times, they are dazzling....In the Brahms, Ginette Neveu combines technical acumen with passionate expression. One of her strongest suits is the rendering of dynamic contrasts, where she is outstanding. Though I continue to prefer the Oistrakh/Konwitschny, Szigeti/Harty and Heifetz/Reiner versions, I consider Neveu, as an artist, to be in close company with those great violinists. As to why I don't care as much for her performance in comparison with the others, it concerns personal responses to aspects of her expressive style. I find her a little too nice and pretty in some of the more lyrical passages. Hers is not the kind of account I prefer to return to for repeated listening. This aside, I have the highest regard for her skills. Incidentally, she is provided solid accompaniment by Issay Dobrowen and the Philharmonia Orchestra. The sound quality throughout is very fine [mono] and particularly full bodied. Though there are a number of excellent Brahms Violin Concertos out there, undoubtedly, some will consider this the finest interpretation the masterwork has ever had.

I listened to the first movement with a shade of indifference. Another skilled virtuoso playing the Brahms very well, but without much individuality. None of that prepared me for what follows. I don't know of any other recording of the Brahms in which the second movement is played so sweetly and introspectively, except perhaps for one of Stern's takes. Neveu's playing moved me to tears. The third movement was masterful, as she strode the stark phrases and asserted the double stops with both great virtuosity and great musicianship. What a cruel loss to the music world was her untimely death. The balance of the CD, with her brother Jean's wonderful piano accompaniment, is also worth far more than is asked for this disc. The Suk, especially, is wonderful. If you don't have it, get it!

I don't understand why people are so excited about this recording. It's one of the worst recordings of Brahms ever recorded. If anybody wants to hear THE best ever recording of Brahms' violin concerto, it's the recording by Heifetz and Toscanini on March 11, 1940. But this... I regret I bought this CD.