Customer Reviews

Isaac Stern 60th Anniversary Celebration

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

This Isaac Stern 60th birthday celebration was broadcast over PBS for the opening concert of Live From Lincoln Center's 5th season. The matchless musicianship, excitement of live performance, friendship and musical sympathy between the performers, and the warm interpretation of these great pieces make for a listening experience that will touch your heart and soul. Although there are many excellent recordings of the Bach double concerto, I've never heard any that approach the warmth and emotion of this performance. The second movement alone is worth the price of this CD. Great musicians brought together for a live performance or studio recording don't always equal good ensemble playing, but here we have wonderful ensemble playing, as these great musicians balance each other very well. "Essential listening" and "must-have" are overused cliches, but they well apply here. You might also want to get the video of Schubert's "Trout" quintet, filmed live in 1969, with Perlman,violin, Zukerman on viola, Daniel Barenboim, piano, Jacqueline DuPre, cello, and on string bass - Zubin Mehta. It shows another rare moment in time when great musicians who were also great friends were brought together for a public performance.

After having played the violin for more than twenty years myself, I consider this CD as my top favorite. If you close your eyes while listening to the Bach Concerto, you can virtually "see" the maestros having the time of their life playing together. Unfortunatly, my father took this CD with him, as my folks moved away. I have spent endless hours in CD stores all over Hamburg, Germany, to find the CD. Thanks to Amazon, Ill be able to enjoy the music in a couple of days again. I WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY DELAYS!!! Ricky McKenna

I saw this concert when it was aired on public TV live. The previous reviewers' impressions are correct -- these gentlemen were playing their heart out, grinning at each other and just loving every minute of it. That concert used to be available on VHS -- how about a DVD reissue?

My pain in not possessing this was not as severe as the previous reviewer, I just did not want to get my old turntable and LP's out of the attic. Oh how wonderful to hear this again! This is a live recording that really does seem to capture Stern, Zukerman and Perlman playing their hearts out. The NY Times review states this was "A night that fanciers of violin music would find difficult to match in a great many years." I agree!

I was raised on this recording, along with many others of Perlman, Metha, Zukerman and Stern. My mother had this recording on vinyl, and I have been searching for it on CD forever. And here it is, FINALLY! I have never heard another recording that so perfectly, wholly and palpably captures the pure joy of music-making, the adoration of the music of these composers, and the breathtaking exhilaration of creating art with other prodigiously talented, sensitive musicians.

He is the true musician who, ever and always, sublimates his own ego in devotion the the creation of beauty for its own sake. On this recording, all four of these incredible musicians do exactly that. The result is absolutely astonishing. It seems no matter how many times you listen to this recording, it always takes your breath away. And that is truly a feat. Oh, to have seen the live performance!

This is one of the few albums that I have returned to again and again over the years, never tiring of the stirring performances it contains. Each piece is played with the passion and technical precision that have raised these virtuosos to the level of high priests of the strings. No collection would be complete without this album. A true joy!

Ohter violinists are virtuosos, but Isaac Stern was the benign godfather of New York classical music for thirty years. No amount of gratitude can reward him for saving Carnegie Hall from the wrecking ball. Here, several of his most intimate younger colleagues--Perlman, Zukerman, and Mehta--celebrate Stern with joyous performances of Bach, Vivaldi, and Mozart.

Others below have commented on the uniqueness of this live-concert CD, but I'd like to highlight the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante. Zukerman has made a second career as a great violist, and here he and Stern are unsurpassed for closeness of spirit. Tempos are a bit slower than usual, especially in the second movement Andante, which is unabashedly romantic, but what would Isaac Stern be without a little shmaltz? I have always liked him best as a collaborator, especially in chamber music, and he doesn't disappoint here. Mehta keeps the orchestral texture of the NY Phil. light and bright. For a non-period recording, I would put this one at the top, along with EMI's CD of David and Igor Oistrakh.

What a 60th anniversary! Extremely impressed with the lively Bach Concerto in D minor for 2 violins (Vivace). Truly a masterpiece. Stern and Pearlman at their best!

This disc will become a favorite of any musicologists collection. The tonal stirrings of Isaac Stern complemented by the technical range of Itzhak Perlman and the expressive bowing of Pinchas Zukerman make for a truly stunning "live" performance. These are works well-known to the performers and orchestra alike with a complete understanding of tempo and tonal fluctuation throughout each work. I only wish this disc could have been originally recorded with modern technologies to exemplify the true mastery displayed by these virtuosi.

After reading a large number of positive reviews below, I do not have to repeat how wonderful this CD is.
I just want to add one thing. This concert is even better if we watch it! The laser disc of the concert used to be available in Japan (where I am from) from Pioneer LDC (today's Geneon Entertainment). I do not know who has the copy right of the concert video today. But it would be great if a DVD of this concert should be released.