Of the Naxos Heifetz Concerto series, available singly
or in a tempting box, this one at least is in the highest sense self-recommending.
Heifetz recorded each work here twice during his career and in the cases
of the Glazunov and Bruch these earlier recordings are much to be preferred.
Whilst there are perhaps more complex issues involved in the Brahms
Double there are still strong grounds for preferring this Feuermann
traversal to the later one with Piatigorsky not least because it is
one of the more strikingly intense string collaborations ever made.
There’s little real need to rehearse the virtues of each performance,
classics of the discography as they are, except to add that the transfers
are excellent and that the disc serves as absolute refutation, if such
should still be necessary after all this time, of Heifetz’s alleged
metallic coldness.
If you have the 1963 RCA Victor/Hendl Glazunov you
will miss an extra level of expressive intensity as well as Barbirolli’s
richly burnished contribution. Heifetz’s nobility of utterance, his
absolute technical eloquence here, his glittering pizzicati and harmonics
are all non-pareil. Some of course swear by Milstein in this work and
his is a superb traversal – there’s room for both, indeed for others.
But for me the extra tonal richness Heifetz brings and the level of
orchestral sophistication involved, the power and apparent spontaneity
are all highly memorable. Try the wind counterpoint and the jaw dropping
Heifetz cadenza in the Tempo primo section (track 3). In the Bruch his
vibrato usage is worthy of an eight page technical treatise. The speed
of it, the variety of it and the colour evoked by it are all bewitching.
The rapt sincerity of his playing in the transition from Andante to
Andante sostenuto is stunning. The finger position changes in which
he indulges are apposite and expressive. His slides and inflexions and
his memorable tone have seldom sounded so utterly beautiful. Let’s forgive
him a few of the cuts he makes. Of contemporary players only Perlman
makes this work live in anything like the same way. The two great string
players turn in a combustible performance in the Brahms. The element
of theatre is sometimes perilously near – neither musician was known
for his humility, personal or musical – and there are moments when there
are things missed, deeper things not fully explored, tonal qualities
sometimes taking precedence over expressive depth. Still, as string
playing it is remarkable.
These are three commanding performances and classics
of the literature in a well transferred disc all revealing much of Heifetz’s
matchless eloquence.
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
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
MusicWeb
can now offer
you discs from the following catalogues:
Prices include postage
Musicweb
Special
Offers
Monthly
Best Buys
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
|
Jascha Heifetz (violin)
with 
