Customer Reviews

Heifetz Plays Walton

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Let's face it, Heifetz owned this piece, first of all, for it was written for him and all the technical stunts (slides, in particular) included are played to hilt. Every other recording of this piece that I've heard (not including his later remake with Walton conducting) makes me think that Heifetz had a much better feel for it.
This was the premiere recording (1941), and after Walton heard this recording, he chose to alter some of the orchestration (for instance, the violins now double the oboe melody after the soloist's initial statement, and other passages). The result was a fuller-sounding orchestra, while the original is much more percussive. Whether that affects the character of the piece depends on the soloist, of course, and with Heifetz, all the attention is on him anyway, so it hardly matters in this recording.
The Elgar concerto (probably the best of the English ones), is another matter. While Heifetz's playing is tremendous, I don't think this music suits his personality. There are so many tender moments in the concerto and Heifetz seems to be cold (not to start any rumors that Heifetz was ALWAYS cold-blooded), especially since he plays it faster than anyone else, which simply exacerbates the previous assessments. It's a puzzling recording, really. Also, one should note that this concerto was written for Fritz Kreisler, who had one of the warmest, most heartfelt tones of any violinist in history.
Because of the price, I would suggest buying this CD simply because the Walton is simply jaw-dropping, but if it were only at full-price, I would suggest looking for other copies of that performance. Sadly, most of them are currently out of print.

What can you say? If this kind of music played by a supreme master is your bag then run to the CD as fast as your legs can carry you. Beautifully written, superbly executed. Lovely.