Shostakovich: Violin Concertos No. 1, Op. 99 & No. 2, Op. 129

Dmitry Shostakovich (Composer), Neeme Järvi (Conductor), Scottish National Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Scottish National Orchestra
• Conductor: Neeme Järvi
• Composer: Dmitry Shostakovich
• Audio CD (October 28, 1992)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Chandos
• ASIN: B000000AK7
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #283,919 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grammy Winner, May 8, 2007

By 

teva_man "teva_man" (United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Shostakovich: Violin Concertos No. 1, Op. 99 & No. 2, Op. 129 (Audio CD)

This CD won a Gramophone Award when it was first released - and it's not hard to see why. The sound engineering is absolutely incredible as well, and I'm sure that played a part in it. This is probably the best pairing of the two Shostakovitch violin concertos out there. Mordovitch is clearly very much at home with both of these melodically dark and musically very different compositions. Jarvi got exactly the kind of sound needed from the orchestra, to match Mordkovitch's gigantic tone. The better-known first concerto has many pleasing moments, but Mordkovitch's playing of the spacious third movement cadenza is probably what got the disc the Grammy. Never before, and probably never again, will you hear the bridge between the third and fourth movements tossed off with such panache and technical perfection. The prickly second concerto is a relatively new addition to the repertoire (premiered only 40 years ago). While the first concerto has a number of fine recordings (Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg's is quite spectacular as well), you'd be hard-pressed to find one better than this of the second. Highly recommended.

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Jarvi/SNO best recordings, October 24, 2005

By 

J. Vich "A. R." (Prague, Czech Republic, EUROPE) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Shostakovich: Violin Concertos No. 1, Op. 99 & No. 2, Op. 129 (Audio CD)

Neeme Jarvi and (Royal) Scottish National Orchetra made number of great recordings. Of course, there are exaples of just average, lukewarm recordings, not worth of owning - for exaple whole Richard Strauss's cycle. But this not the case. Performances of Shostakovich's violin concertos are among the best recordings they've made together, and what's most important, Lydia Mordkovich shows the same perfection here. Very recommended.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Extraordinary, February 10, 2010

By 

David Keppel (Bloomington, IN United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Shostakovich: Violin Concertos No. 1, Op. 99 & No. 2, Op. 129 (Audio CD)

Lydia Mordkovitch's performance -- in particular of the passacaglia in the First Violin Concerto -- is one of the most remarkable in all classical music recorded on disc. It is a complete fusion of technical virtuosity, musical integrity, and passionate spirituality. As others have noted, the superb sound quality of this recording lets you experience this work in all its vividness and depth.