RECORDING OF THE MONTH RECORDING OF THE MONTH BARGAIN OF THE MONTH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS A London Symphony Oboe Concerto £11 post free World-wide RACHMANINOV Elegy, Preludes, Piano concerto 3 £12 post free World-wide CHAUSSON, DEBUSSY RACHMANINOV TRios 2CDs £16 post free World-wide

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Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) Violin Concerto in A minor BWV 1041 Violin Concerto in E major BWV 1042 Double Concerto in D minor BWV 1043* David Oistrakh (violin) Igor Oistrakh (violin)* Moscow Chamber Orchestra/Rudolf Barshai Recorded Moscow, 1972 and 1959 (Concerto in E major) AULOS MUSIC AMC2-027 [50.35]

Oistrakh’s Bach never stales. Richly and ripely romanticised and ennobled by that sonorous tone – more flexible in the earlier 1959 recordings – these are connoisseur’s performances. Not that they aren’t for others but even so they do now occupy a semi-hinterland of Bach performances. By virtue of their saturated bass lines and plangent expressivity, these will appeal more to admirers of great violin playing and the great continuum of concerto performances on disc. I’ve always found that the Barshai-led Moscow Chamber Orchestra sounded a bit congested, even for 1959. That’s a concern when it comes to the tuttis but the solid, thick sound saturates for much of the time, along with those big-boned basses. Oistrakh phrases seraphically in the slow movements, especially in the E major. In the case of the A minor, which is wonderfully rapt, there is just a taste of the tonal spread that could compromise his last years. We hear the harpsichord in the 1972 Double Concerto where he’s joined by Igor Oistrakh and they make for a tonally integrated and moving pairing. Those granitic basses do rather assault the finale – but the Oistrakhs survive it. Don’t confuse this, by the way, with the RPO recording with Eugene Goossens conducting, or the Concertos with the self conducted Vienna Philharmonic sessions. The 1959 recording has responded well to Aulos’s DSD remastering as have the more recent concerto performances. Adherents should certainly own one or other of David Oistrakh’s Bach recordings and maybe to supplement this Double with the BBC Double with Menuhin. Fashion comes and goes but wisdom and tonal beauty are perennial. Jonathan Woolf   Advertising Rates Visitor stats MusicWeb International has over 40,000 Classical CD reviews on offer Discs received Having a problem Donating? Gerard Hoffnung Concerts & The Bricklayer Story MusicWeb can now offer you discs from the following catalogues: Prices include postage There will be NO VAT Rises [Acte Préalable £13.50] [Arcodiva £12.00] [Avie from £6.25] [British Music Society £12.00] [CDACCORD from £13.50 ] [ClassicO £12.50] [Hallé from £11] [Heritage £10] [Hortus £14.99 ] [Lyrita ONLY £11.75 ] [Nimbus Special prices] [Northern Flowers £13.50] [REDCLIFFE £11 ] [Sheva £11] [Tactus £11.50 ] [Talent from £12.00 ] [Toccata Classics £10.50 ] Musicweb Special Offers Monthly Best Buys   New Releases New Releases   MusicWeb sells the Polish catalogue CDAccord £10.50 post free W-W MusicWeb sells the Arcodiva catalogue £12.00 post free W-W £11.75 post-free world- wide     Google Ads - for information about privacy matters, click here.  Amazon Musicweb International is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

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