Customer Reviews

Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto (Hybr)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

[I am utterly astounded at the negative tone of the previous customer review here of Julia Fischer's traversal of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto and some of his other concerted violin works. The writer's reference to "frequent odd noises on the disk, including instrument sounds, fizzing, fuzziness and noises as made with a live audience" makes me wonder if s/he got hold of a defective disc. I heard no such extraneous noises. As for the negative comments on Fischer's technical abilities, I can only gape in wonder and assume we must have been listening to different discs.]

Julia Fischer is a young German violinist who has truly come into her own in the last few years. She is now recording exclusively for the PentaTone label and they have given her luxuriously refulgent SACD sound and marvelous engineering. She is supported here by the virtuosic Russian National Orchestra under Jakov Kreizberg, a rising Russian-born conductor living in the US since the 1970s (and brother of conductor Semyon Bychkov). Her playing here is subtle and nuanced, marked by extraordinary management of dynamics -- her pianissimi are hair-raising in the first movement cadenza; the brio of her playing especially in the allegro vivacissimo finale is sensational. And never an ugly sound, even in loud passages with double stops.

For lagniappe we get Tchaikovsky's two other concerted works for violin and orchestra, the lovely Sérénade mélancolique and the sprightly Valse - Scherzo, Op. 34, both played with the same flair and luscious tone as the concerto.

Finally, there is the rarely heard Souvenir d'un lieu cher ('Memory of a Beloved Place') with conductor Kreizberg at the piano. I will confess I'd never heard it before and was utterly charmed by this sixteen-minute work with its three movements: Méditation, Scherzo, and Mélodie. (The first movement uses material Tchaikovsky had composed and then rejected for the slow movement of the Concerto.) There is the usual Tchaikovsky melancholy coupled with a sensitive piano accompaniment (sensitively played by Kreizberg). It was so lovely that on first hearing I had to press the repeat function and listen to it again.

Recommended.

Scott Morrison

First and formost, Julia Fischer reaches into the song, the soul of the music to give us the most beautiful rendition I ever heard. Her tone can only be characterized as jewel-like set within a golden aura. It is not a silvery tone, it is rich, golden but with kalidescopic highlights of a million colors.

With all this she has a steely assurance and an ability to "dig in" to the strings (without the ugliness this usually implies) and works up huge creschendos and plays bravura passages with uncommon urgency. Kreizburg and the orchestra are one with this outstanding musicianship and provide ideal accompaniment - they play as partners actually, more than as accompanists.

Not very long ago Viktoria Mullova declared she had excised the Tchaikovsky from her repertoire because the musical rewards do not justify the effort required of the soloist! Agreeing with her, I thought I had tired of work but decided to give this a listen having heard Fischer give a phenomenal performance of the Beethoven in Baltimore last spring. Well I am not tired of it when its played like this!

As to the recorded sound quality, I listened to it as an SACD. In additon to the 5 channel surround layer I listened to there is an SACD stereo layer and a CD layer. I understand the stereo is not mixed down from the multi-channel mix but is a totally separate, but simultaneous recording.

The "surround" sound actually centers the listener about 7 or 8 rows back from the stage in an acoustic that is spacious and clear, but unlike in stereo the reflected sounds from the side and back walls come from behind and to the side of you. It sounds very much like actually being in a concert hall. While the dynamics and power of the orchestra are striking, the interplay of soloist and orchestral musicians is simply beautiful to hear. This is a very natural sounding and wonderful recording.

First, a few disclaimers:
1) I listened to the Multi-channel SACD layer only
2) My listening setup consists mainly of Stereophile Class-B components
3) My familiarity with the Tchaikovsky violin concerto is limited to a handful of live listens and only one other recorded version, performed by Midori.

That out of the way, my notes:
- This is remarkably well-recorded -- spacious and concert hall like, but with the listener positioned in the acoustic center of everything. As compared to live, Fischer is mixed a bit louder on the recording, but this is fine as far as I'm concerned.
- A beautiful interpretation. The attacks are sharp but musical and with emotion. A wonderful tone throughout. Mvmt 1 is the best I've heard.
- I got chills at several points. To my ear, the performance is technically brilliant, but when you're listening you don't care -- she draws you in causing you to listen with your emotion rather than technique, as a good author or movie director will draw you into the story rather than the syntax...masterful.
- the very final note of the 3rd movement seemed a little off to me, but otherwise everything between soloist and orchestra was pretty tight
- no clue as to what the review who gave this a 1-star was listening...sounds like either a bad disc or a faulty playback system. my opinion couldn't be more opposite.

I'd definitely recommend. And highly.

I feel obliged to write in briefly with a 5 star review, to boost the average rating so that no-one will see the 3-star average and pass on this marvellous performance and recording. We should be at a little over 4 by now...

I agree with everything that Scott Morrison has said. I thought that Julia Fischer's performance of my favourite violin concerto (well...it's this or Sibelius. Or Shostakovich's First...) was as good as Viktoria Mullova's and (though I hate to say it) better than Anne-Sophie Mutter's live version, while the orchestral accompaniment was even more splendid than Seiji Ozawa's. The extra pieces are also well worth hearing.

Hugely recommended.

Julia Fischer's performance of the Tchaikovsky Concerto is technically assured. More importantly, her technique is placed in service to the music. This is the most musical performance of the concerto that I know. The youthful Fischer (23 at the time of the recording) is beautifully supported by Maestro Kreizberg and sensitive playing by the Russian National Orchestra. The wind playing in particular is extremely sensitive and beautiful in tone.

One thing that sets this recording apart is Miss Fischer's playing of the solo part as written. Violinists of an earlier generation, including Milstein, Stern, Oistrakh, et. al, employed a revised version of the soloist part that eliminated a chunk of the first movement development and several (admittedly repetitive) passages in the finale. Furthermore octave shifts and elimination of double stops further simplified the part. In this recording, all the cuts are opened and the difficulties restored and played with aplomb.

Frankly, I had avoided this recording. With Milstein and Oistrakh already on the shelves, there didn't seem much point to acquiring a new and expensive version of a work that has never been my favorite. Well, I was wrong. This recording has forced me to re-evaluate my feelings about the concerto as music, not just a technical tour de force.

The Serenade and Valse are well played by the soloist and orchestra and Maestro Kreizberg proves his versatility by providing solid piano accompaniment for the Souvenir. The concerto is the real prize.

The recording is demonstration quality, but you will only get the full impact in the multi-channel SACD format. The standard CD mix is good but doesn't do justice to the soloist, who sounds recessed. The 2 channel SACD mix improves things somewhat, but the 5 channel version is startlingly lifelike and well balanced.

If you have multi-channel SACD capability, buy yourself a copy of this disc. You'll enjoy it for both musical and technical excellence.

I heard Fischer life in Bratislava and decided to buy this CD. Her performance was marvellous, although the orchestral accompaniment was less than on this CD. Her fabulous technique is completely for the use of her great, authentic performance and she is in an phenomenal way accompanied by Yakov Kreizberg. My first predeliction for this concerto was Leonid Kogan's performance in the sixties and I had the same experience listening to Fischer's. This concerto makes high demands upon the performers to give a unified performance, but they really succeed.
A most recommendable CD.

Stunning and exquisite are the very words that come to mind whenever I think of the young German violinist Julia Fischer's superlative playing (Indeed, I consider myself most fortunate to have heard her perform live finally last season here in New York City with the New York Philharmonic, agreeing with others that the ample hype she's earned is ample praise for her sterling musicianship.). Now in her mid twenties, Julia Fischer embodies tremendous technical brilliance and ample lyricism in her playing. Nowhere is this more evident in her critically-acclaimed recording of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, in which she dazzles with musical pyrotechnics, especially in the first and final movements, and yet, not once does she forsake any empathy for Tchaikovsky's score, offering a truly moving interpretation. Stylistically, her style of playing reminds me most of a young Anne-Sophie Mutter's, but coupled too with an ample abundance of warmth, so that her style also resembles that of Joshua Bell's in its emotional intensity. Under the baton of noted Russian-American conductor Yakov Kreizberg, the Russian National Orchestra plays with ample precision, without losing its Slavic soul, as though it was the Russian equivalent of the Wiener Philharmoniker. There's refined playing from the orchestra throughout the concerto, especially from the winds and strings, at a pace that isn't leisurely at all. As well as the concerto, the Russian National Orchestra offers more of its superlative playing in the rarely heard Serenade melancolique for violin and orchestra and Valse-scherzo pieces. Conductor Yakov Kreizberg proves to be a sympathetic, sensitive accompanist too as the pianist in the Souvenir d'un lieu cher for violin and piano. This PentaTone recording truly deserved being singled out by premier classical music magazine Grammophone as an Editor's Choice recording, and not just for Fischer's magnificent performances; the sound quality is absolutely stellar too. While I still hold in high regard the recent recordings made by Vengerov and Bell of this concerto, Fischer's recording may be regarded by most as perhaps the best that is available currently.

Julia Fischer gives excellent performances of the Tchaikovsky works for violin included in this CD. In the Concerto in D, she gives a sensitive and well-naunced reading. Her reading of the Seranade melancolique and the Valse-Scherzo are first-rate. But the real joy, for me, is her performance of the Souvenir d'un lieu cher. Julia Fischer's reading of the Meditation (the original slow movement of the Violin Concerto) was really touching.

This is an excellent CD. Yakov Kreizberg did an outstanding job as both conductor of the Russian National Orchestra and piano accompanist.

If you enjoy the music of Tchaikovsky, this CD is a must for your music library.

Hard to imagine that in Tchaikovsky's day, this concerto was considered so difficult as to be all but unplayable. Now we have Julia Fischer dancing her way through it seemingly oblivious to the technical challenges, like it's a Kreutzer etude or Strauss waltz. Anyway, this concerto showcases Fischer's wonderful lyricism and huge sound -- kind of the string instrument equivalent of a big bold Bordeaux. I don't love everything Fischer's done but this is an absolutely delicious Tchaikovsky -- probably a recording that's going to be talked aboud and treasured. I assume this was recorded on her Guadagnini; this fiddle is fantastic -- especially the lower three strings.

Quite possibly the best musical recording of any kind I've ever heard. I'm obsessed with it. OBSESSED, I tell you!