Violin Concerto / Violin Concerto 1

Samuel Barber (Artist), Dmitry Shostakovich (Artist), Maxim Shostakovich (Artist), Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg (Artist), London Symphony Orchestra (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 7, 1992)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Angel Records
• ASIN: B000002RSG
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #167,905 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Violin Concerto, Op. 14: Allegro

2. Violin Concerto, Op. 14: Andante

3. Violin Concerto, Op. 14: Presto in moto

4. Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 77 (published as Op. 99): 1. Nocturne: Moderato

5. Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 77 (published as Op. 99): 2. Scherzo: Allegro

6. Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 77 (published as Op. 99): 3. Passacaglia: Andante cadenza - Shostakovich

7. Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 77 (published as Op. 99): 4. Burlesque: Allegro con brio - Shostakovich

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars like they were written for Nadja, April 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Violin Concerto / Violin Concerto 1 (Audio CD)

Both these Concertos are well suited to Nadja's wild yet focused temperament. The Barber written in 1936 doesn't give away its date the way some works do. The overwhelming passionate lyricism was Barber's creative genius. The work has its give and take,the beautiful melody of the "First Movement" is something you never forget your entire life. Nadja here fines an emotive center adding just the right amount of herself without being overly sentimental. That is the danger in Barber's music you need always to search for an emotive center and distance yourself.It is still modern music despite its 19th Century affinities. The ending "Toccata" is indeed dangerous yet the perpetual motion is handled here like a goddess above the fury. Shostakovich as well Nadja adds a refinement to the dark pages here.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great CD!, May 2, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Violin Concerto / Violin Concerto 1 (Audio CD)

This is a great recording of two breathtaking violin concertos. The first movement is both lyrical and playful, and Salerno-Sonnenberg brings out these two sides of the movement beautifully. She plays the second movement, a slow, gorgeous melody very well. The third movement, which was considered too difficult to play by the violinist for whom it was commissioned, is insanely fast, very intense, yet almost sarcastically so, and is a lot of fun! Sonnenberg plays it very well. In this interest of saving my time writing this and your time reading this, I won't comment as much on the Shostakovich, but rest assured that she plays it fantastically!

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Shostakovich amazing, Barber painful, April 5, 2002

By 

new music guy (NY, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Violin Concerto / Violin Concerto 1 (Audio CD)

These are two of the greatest violin concertos ever written, separated chronologically by not much time, but worlds apart in sound and color. Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg is an energetic soloist, a trait which emerges in the faster movements of each piece. The second and fourth movements of the Shostakovich concerto are played here with wild exuberance, and are absolutely dazzling to listen to. The first movement and passacaglia are given the treatment they deserve, played with at times a dark brooding sound, and at times a stark melancholy. Her playing seems perfectly suited to this work overall, and this perhaps rivals even Vengerov's great recording (coupled with Prokofiev's first concerto). The lyrical passages of the Barber, on the other hand, are so full of vulgar swells and cheesy slides that I couldn't even listen all the way through the first movement. All melodic line is abandoned in order to make "moments" that don't really even happen. You'll find better performances of this concerto just about anywhere you look (I'd especially recommend Stern's old recording with the NY Phil). The Shostakovich is worth the price of the disc, but if you're familiar with the Barber concerto, you'll find yourself fast-forwarding through the first three tracks more often than not.