Prokofiev, Shostakovich: Violin Concertos no 1 / Rostropovich, Vengerov

Sergey Prokofiev (Composer), Dmitry Shostakovich (Composer), Mstislav Rostropovich (Conductor), London Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), Maxim Vengerov (Performer)

Product Details

• Performer: Maxim Vengerov
• Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Mstislav Rostropovich
• Composer: Sergey Prokofiev, Dmitry Shostakovich
• Audio CD (November 8, 1994)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Teldec
• ASIN: B000000SLM
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #102,071 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording
With his brilliant tone, flawlessly centered intonation, jaw-dropping technique, and exquisitely beautiful phrasing, Maxim Vengerov is ideal in this repertory. His sparkling account of the Prokofiev conveys the music's mercurial shifts of color and mood with great élan, and turns wonderfully evocative in the ethereal pages. The interpretation of the Shostakovich is equally fine--strongly characterized and imaginative, haunting in its beauty. The young soloist is ably partnered by Mstislav Rostropovich, who draws some remarkably fine and suggestive playing out of an alert London Symphony Orchestra, and makes a convincing whole out of each score. Teldec's engineers take advantage of the Abbey Road venue to deliver a recording that, while predictably balanced in favor of the soloist, is detailed and nicely atmospheric. This disc won Gramophone magazine's Record of the Year award in 1995, and it comes impressively close to capturing the kind of electricity Vengerov generates onstage. --Ted Libbey

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best recordings ever, July 18, 2001

By	"[e-mail]" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This is quite the statement, I know, but feel I must join in with the seemingly universal praise for this album. This is by far the most superb recording of Shostakovich Violin Concerto no. 1 out there, for a piece that is in my opinion perhaps Shostakovich's absolute best. There are always a lot of comments about the piece as "banal" or standard, but whatever, this is the shostakovich sound at its finest, and perhaps at its most modern. It's a piece that he dared not perform while Stalin was still alive, and when you listen to it you'll hear why. I remember listening to it on the radio for the first time and thinking, especially during the second and fourth movements, that the striking dissonances and unrelenting motion surely must be the work of Bartok or some more "progressive" Eastern European composer, but the undeniable Russian-ess of the work shines through in the end. And the unmatchably powerful 1st and 3rd movements (especially the 3rd- my God!) could really be no one but Shostakovich.

That said, this performance definetely wins all the prizes for capturing the essense of the musicality on which the piece is based. The torment, the anguish, the stomping through life, Vengerev and his Stradivarius capture it perfectly. Just about every nuance in the solo performance is exactly the way it should be. Vengerev's tone stings you, it pierces right through the typically dark orchestration right to the soul. And Rostopovich is right there for the ride, in perfect counterbalance.

The only criticism I can think of for this album is that some of the orchestra tuttis are a bit muddy- there isn't the same clarity of recording that is devoted to the solo part. It sounds to me like perhaps the solo part had like three mics, and the rest of the orchestra had two. However, this hardly negates the imperative that you buy this album. The performances are unsurpassable. And, as an extra bonus, you get the Prokofiev no. 1, hardly a throw away piece, in fact an incredible piece of music, performance, and recording in it's own right (In fact, the recording techniques that I criticize work much better in this piece). However, it's not the show-stopping, breath-taking, heart-pounding, tear-jerking, death-defying magnum opus that is the Shostakovich Violin concerto no. 1. Buy it.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Living Master At His Very Best!, April 23, 2003

By	Brian Kelly (Music City, TN USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

First off, not only do I think that Maxim Vengerov is the absolute best viloinists I have ever heard but I am equally just as sure that he is the very best musician I know of, living or dead. He is incredible and this recording is one of the best records I have ever owned!!!

His reading of the Prokofiev piece is absolutely flawless. Every note he plays seems exactly right. When I listen to this recording I get so immediately lost in the performance that I am swept away by every succeeding note. An unbelievable performance! This is musical ecstacy!

I liked the Shostakovich peice well enough even before this recording but I always felt it had a disjointed, peiced together feel to it in places that I couldn't imagine anyone overcoming. In Vengerov's hands this piece is transformed into one logically flowing artistic statement that seems to easily state all of this compositions many technical and emotional twists and turns.

This recording is so wonderful that I have purchased it for several friends as a gift and all of them, whether they like this type of music or not, have fallen in love with both this record and Maxim Vengerov.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Definitive, June 4, 2000

By	Stephen O. Murray "Stephen O. Murray" (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I can't recall ever before daring to label anything "definitive," but I can't imagine this recording being surpassed. In particular, I can't conceive anyone performing the solo parts better. Vengerov's singing tone matches his awe-inspiring technique. For me, he is the new violinist god, the heir of Jascha Heifetz. Vengerov is ably supported by Rostropovich (who is a god among the cellists, but not among conductors, and has a particular authority as an interpreter of Prokofiev and Shostakovich).

Vengerov makes the best case for the Shostakovich that I've ever heard (eclipsing Salerno-Sonnenberg and Ostriakh). It still seems to me to have passages of banality, but the ratio of brilliance to banality seems higher than in other performances.

I have always considered the Prokofiev First to be the most beautiful 20th century violin concerto. Vengerov's recording of the Barber launched it as a rival for this distinction. Both are incredibly gorgeous (at least through the first two movements of the Barber). Every violin-lover should have Vengerov's Barber and Vengerov's performances with Rostropovich of both Prokofiev and both Shostakovich concerti.