Customer Reviews

Nathan Milstein: The 1946 Library Of Congress Recital

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

 

 

Recoreded in 46', this disc has many cracks, snaps and pops which are a little bit annoying, but the musicianship on the disc is amazing. It contains a wonderful selection of pieces ranging from sad and romantic to fast and virtuosic. Milstein is a phenomenal violinist and this recording captures him at his best. This record is a must have for violin fan fans as well as anyone with a pulse.

5 stars even though the recording is bad.

I basically buy and listen to violin recordings with my daughter, the violinist, when she begins to learn each new piece. We bought this one for the Vitali Chaconne, and before hearing it we frankly did not have high hopes - my daughter tends to turn up her nose at the noise on older recordings, and neither of us liked Milstein's recording of the Bach Partita #3, but...Wow! The expressive sound that comes through the snap, crackle, pop, and hiss of the '40s recording technology is wonderful! The live-performance energy that you can sense on this disc makes you forget feeling "spoiled" by crystal-clear, heavily edited, DDD CDs. The Vitali is wonderful, and the totally unexpected piano-accompaniment-only version of the Mendelssohn concerto really makes you appreciate the solo violin even more. This is one to seriously consider even if you have the prejudices that we did at first.