Customer Reviews

Mendelssohn/Brahms: Violin Concertos

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

 

 

I must say that this recording surely has something magic about it. But I wouldn't really go as far as the previous reviewer, to say it's sexual - it's far more than earthly pleasures - it's ethereal. You can just sit back in your sofa, close your eyes and feel that there's something more than just the music you hear in this recording. Sensitive, intensitive, and sensual, sometimes on the border to vulnerability, is the playing from especially Ms Mutter. Karajan shows his great experience by not letting his own conducting catch too much of your attention - he is simply responsive and supportive to Ms Mutter's young and fresh-sounding playing. Need I then say that this is beautiful? Happily, this is valid for both these lovely concertos.

The Mendelssohn start with lots of fire and brilliance from both Ms Mutter and Karajan in the first movement, leading through the second movement, the Andante, which is utterly moving and suffocatingly beautiful here, to a playfully vivacious Allegretto/Allegro.

The Brahms concerto is no less good. The first allegro, a part balancing between solemnity and violent, tragic explosions, through parts of wondering and restfullness, is showing every possible variation of emotion called for - just listen to Ms Mutters lovely intense vibrato after about 11 ½ minute. Ms Mutter definately shows that she understands the intrinsical values of this concerto - If this first part doesn't make you understand what's etherical in music, nothing probably ever will. The following adagio is extremely beautiful, the oftenly dominating oboepart being put aside here by Ms Mutters lovely playing, which grows for every bar played. The last allegro is played just as the name indicates, non troppo vivace - not to playful, sounding like an almost serious dance melody.

The sound is a little too close for my taste, especially since the Berlin forces sounds a little unclear, but thats of minor concern indeed, when the rest of this recording makes you nothing but happy. I don't think that you'll find any better version of these lovely concertos than these ones, at least I haven't.

If you haven't heard these recordings, you have a nice surprise ahead of you. The Mendelssohn dates from 1981 and the Brahms from 1982. Because of the recording dates, you've got the young protege, Anne-Sophie Mutter, firmly under the leadership of the old master, Herbert von Karajan, with that marvelous orchestra to draw on for generous support.

Ms. Mutter has never been closer since then to the gentler ways of performing these pieces as she is here. The accompaniment is very well balanced and perfectly complements the solos.

Being used to a lot of fire from Ms. Mutter, some may complain that these performances aren't sizzling enough.

I found that her interpretation of Mendelssohn was delightfully restrained which allowed for the heavenly aspects of the piece to emerge. I was equally pleased with her Brahms where her violin seems to literally sing to us in a beautiful human voice. Beneath the surface, you can feel the controlled power of Mutter, von Karajan, and the Berlin Philharmonic. It's like watching heavyweights delicately dancing ballet to exquisite chamber music. You know there's the power there to blow us away, but that they want to enrapture us instead.

This recording will appeal most to people who like to hear classic pieces of the repertoire performed in ways that aren't the typical fare.

The same day I received this CD of Brahm's violin concerto with Anne-Sophie I heard, after listening to her version, a performance of another violinist playing live with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. I was shocked how ordinary his performance sounded even though the audience gave him a strong ovation at the finish.

Her renditions of widely known works are in a class by themselves. She has so much expressiveness used wisely and effortlessly you forget the limitations of the instrument and technique. She doesn't seem to have any. Since David Oistrakh, the Soviet violinist whose recordings end by 1960 or so, she is the finest I have heard.

Some say her earliest (and she was a child prodigy) performances are the most exciting. I've heard her play Sibelius' concerto and I don't notice anything but a continuation of her genius on the instrument. If you are like me, you will want to get every performance she has recorded.

Even though I consider Karajan the greatest maestro of his generation, as an accompanist he tended to exhibit faults I don't find when he's on his own. In both these concertos there's a concern for overall smoothness, mellow tone, and precise balance. Karajan's lovely young protegee, Mutter, matches his approach perfectly. She spins one of the most consistent tones of any violinist and shows no desire to crowd the spotlight. The result wins admiration for being harmonious, but where's the individuality and drama?

In the Mendelssohn concerto we get dreamy melodic lines but no real delight and magic--it's all rather charmless, without joy. Mutter is careful not to show off with brilliant pyrotechnics, which is too bad--if you're going to dazzle, this is one work that will take off into ethereal heights. The Brahms finds Karajan developing a broad sound picture that's simply too bland. The rugged, struggling temperament of this composer has been carefuly suppressed, and at no times does Mutter seem to throw caution to the wind. Having said that, I much prefer this reading to the celebrated EMI recording with Perlman and Giulini--it's even more faceless and correct.

Of course, tastes differ, and I must confess that Mutter never went on to make any recordings I really love, so perhaps I should be discounted as a non-fan. If you value precise technique and clean tone without much 'intervention" on the soloist's part, here you are. I will stick with Menuhin/Furtwangler, Heifetz/Reiner, and Mullova/Abbado, among quite a few that shine with more vibrancy than this CD.

I enjoy the youthful performance of Felix Mendelssohn's (1809-1847) Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in E minor. The violinist is the protégée, Ms Anne-Sophie Mutter (b1963). The conductor is Herr Doktor Herbert von Karajan (1908-1989). This relationship has proven to be an extremely important one for the world of classical music. This performance balances youth and maturity. If Mendelssohn's Concerto is not the happiest piece of violin music, I don't know what is. The notes in this package are simply grand. Ms Constantin Floros writes that the popularity of Mendelssohn's piece is the result of "many factors", citing "a potency and accessibility of its themes, a happy blend of cantabile melody and virtuosity, of expressiveness and brilliance, of simplicity and refinement, as well as the subtlety of the atmospheric moods." Brief biographies of Ms Mutter and Herr Doktor von Karajan are also supplied. Even though they are short, the bios manage to overwhelm me with the accomplishments. If you are interested in a very accessible performance by a pair of exceptional figures in the classical music scene, this CD will interest you.

Protege Anne-Sophie Mutter has made yet another excellent CD. The Mendelssohn concerto is truly one of the greatest concertos, and has been well met by Anne-Sophie Mutter. She has a very clear and pronounced style, that not only makes for an excellent piece to listen to, but would be a bonus for a student studying either of the concertos.

Herbert von Karajan's smooth orchestral sound was much more suited to some composers than others; unfortunately the composers that it was not suited to comprise the majority of the standard Teutonic repertoire. In particular the music of Brahms becomes flat, lifeless and boring under his approach, when in the hands of many other conductors it is inuered with a profound lyricism unsurpassed by any other composer. I don't think there was any other composer who Karajan was so awful at conducting, and so any of his Brahms recordings should be avoided. If you want recordings by Karajan go for late romantic and modern music where the greater orchestral complexity and amount of dissonance counteract the smooth superficiality evident in his classical and early romantic performances, and presents the music with clarity of texture.

Ms. Mutter is one of the best violinists in the world, with both a remarkable attention to detail as well as perceptive musical insight, and plays extremely well here in spite of Karajan's interpretation of the score. I haven't heard her recording of the Brahms Concerto with Kurt Masur but that would probably be were to look for a performance of this concerto by her.

The Mendelssohn Concerto also suffers from the same lacklustre conducting from Karajan, although he is not quite as bad with this concerto as with the Brahms.

I know that both anne-sophie mutter and hilary hahn are both exceptional musicians, but i personally think that hilary hahn has the better mendelssohn recording. the first movement just has more energy... as well as more motion and dynamics that make it so beautiful to listen to.

The Mendelssohn violin concerto is perhaps one of the best pieces written for that instrument. Every violinist of quality has recorded it and because of this, of course, I have not listened to every available version. However, this recording and the duo Mutter/Karajan exhude such style, such strength and such raw sexual energy that all other recordings for me have fallen flat. Karajan with the baton and Mutter with the violin spar, argue, make up, lay in each others arms, go their seperate ways and come back together in exchanges of lyrical and sensual love-making the likes of which I have rarely heard in music before. Listening to this CD is like watching a passionate and deep relationship unfold. It's beautiful. It's unexpected. And yet it never loses sight of the poetic Mendelssohn--and this is why it is a great recording: for all the love the performers throw around, they love the composer just as much. Unfortunately, the Brahms concerto ends up a little weak in comparison, but that is only in comparison. This CD is a must have.