Mozart: Violin Concertos Nos. 4 & 5; Rondo concertante; Rondo; Adagio

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Composer), David Oistrakh (Conductor), Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
• Conductor: David Oistrakh
• Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Audio CD (August 13, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: EMI Classics
• ASIN: B00005NPJL
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #50,822 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #35 in Music > Classical > Forms & Genres > Rondos

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, November 26, 2003

By 

Gulley Jimson (Bethesda, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mozart: Violin Concertos Nos. 4 & 5; Rondo concertante; Rondo; Adagio (Audio CD)

This is a beautifully played, selected, remastered, and priced recording of essential pieces of music.

I was wary of picking this up, because my experiences with budget classical releases have generally been bad: although the music is always wonderful, companies either get competent but uninspired performers, or transfer a legendary performer's recording (usually pretty old) to CD without taking any time to remaster it well.

Labels realize, I suppose, that there are two types of people who buy classical music: casual listeners that don't care about (or can't notice) such things, and a coterie of discerning obsessives who are willing to get fleeced for a good recording.

But EMI has actually done everyone a favor. This CD is a gift to a person starting a classical music collection, or anyone who just wants a beautiful recording of these pieces. Mozart's two greatest violin concertos are here, along with the alternate movements that he wrote for the same concertos - the disc actually fills its running time of 80 minutes, and it sounds glorious even on headphones. I'm not sure if it was a great remastering job or just an unusually sharp recording in the first place, but everything sounds bright and alive.

My knowledge of performers isn't that good, and I had never heard of David Oistrakh when I picked this up, but after a few listens I was convinced that he had to be a legend - which, unsurprisngly, he was (and is, I suppose). His tone is incredibly pure and smooth, and his playing retains the improvisatory feel of some of Mozart's continuously unspooling melodies while remaining disciplined and clear.

The 4th and 5th violin concertos mark the point when Mozart stopped performing these compositions himself, and handed over the reins to a more skilled violinist - and my god, they seem to have gotten very complicated. The development of the melodies occasionally moves into harmonic areas where it sounds like Mozart must have been writing in 20th century: and parts of the Turkish concerto, I swear, sound like they were picked up by Sibelius to use in Tapiola. But a genius, I suppose, is always writing modern music.

This is great recording and a wonderful value - you'll listen to it forever, I assure you.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The search stops here, March 4, 2007

By 

Sat Mad (IL, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mozart: Violin Concertos Nos. 4 & 5; Rondo concertante; Rondo; Adagio (Audio CD)

I'm the type of listener that wants a quality reading of the essential pieces of music history so I can explore with the rest of my music budget for more obscure items. This way, when the satellite radio plays something outside of my preference, or a mood strikes, I'm covered.

With this purchase, my search for the two final Mozart violin concerti ceases. There may be a better violinist than Oistrakh, or one better suited for these pieces, or whatever disclaimer someone may want to put on it. I'm not buying it. I can now look for other pieces. Oistrakh is wonderful, the price is sentational (I used both the 4-for-3 and shipping bonuses as well), and the folks at EMI threw on three wonderful extras to extend the cd out to almost 80 minutes. Nice liner notes on the composer, violinist, and the music.

If you want to spend more for less, go ahead. But for someone who enjoys phenomenal violin music that has and will stand the test of time, this cd is a simple 5 star recommendation.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What A Spectacular Recording!!, August 29, 2009

By 

Dick Buckley (Pittsburgh, PA, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mozart: Violin Concertos Nos. 4 & 5; Rondo concertante; Rondo; Adagio (Audio CD)

Wow! I'm overwhelmed! This CD features not only two of the greatest violin concertos ever written, but they are played by perhaps the greatest violinist of the past 100 years! Many moons ago, when I was knee high to a grasshopper, I acquired a vinyl LP of David Oistrach playing something - I've long since forgotten what, but his virtuosity impressed me deeply. When I saw this CD, I decided immediately to purchase it just to see if my memory was correct, and to see how he measures up to the current violin icons, like Perlman and Bell, for instance. I was far from disappointed! David Oistrach plays with more passion and feeling than any fiddler that I know, before or after him.

To make it all the more irreplaceable, the geniuses at EMI have chosen Mozart's 4th and 5th Concertos to grace this recording. It almost goes without saying that they have selected two of the finest pieces of music ever written. How they can offer these masterpieces at this ridiculous price baffles me. Thank God for small miracles.

Get this CD while you can! You'll be glad you did.