RECORDING OF THE MONTH     CHOPIN Waltzes and Impromptus Vladimir Feltsman £11 post free World-wide VIVALDI The four seasons London Mozart Players/Juritz £12 post free World-wide BEETHOVEN Symphonies 4 and 5 LSO/Yondani Butt £12 post free World-wide

AVAILABILITY PENTATONE

Aram KHACHATURIAN (1903-1978) Violin Concerto in D minor (1940) [36.38] Serge PROKOFIEV (1891-1953) Violin Concerto No. 1 in D, Op. 19 (1917) [22.00] Alexander GLAZUNOV (1856-1936) Violin Concerto in A minor, Op. 82 (1905) [20.28] Julia Fischer, violin Russian National Orchestra/Yakov Kreizberg Recorded in the DSD system at DZZ Studio 5, Moscow, Russia, 13 May 2004 CD tracks Stereo 2.0, Surround Notes in English, Deutsch, and Français. Photos of artists. Hybrid SACD also playable on CD players. PENTATONE CLASSICS PTC 186 059 [79.24]

Comparison Recordings: Prokofiev: D. Oistrakh, Rozhdestvensky, Moscow SO. various LP releases. Prokofiev: D. Sitkovetsky, C. Davis, LSO. Virgin 45108 Khachaturian: D. Oistrakh, Khachaturian, Moscow SO Russian Disc RUS 11 012 Khachaturian: Kogan, Monteux, BSO BMG/RCA Living Stereo 63708 Glazunov: Jascha Heifetz, Walter Hendl, RCA SO RCA Red Seal RCD1-7019 These recordings are very cool, confidently virtuosic, eschewing any Gypsy passion or Russian sense of tragedy. They achieve a completely Romantic feeling along with clear, precise and energetic musicianship. The SACD tracks are truly in surround sound with sound sources filling the listening space, the violin vividly present but at a realistic volume level with respect to the orchestra. The CD tracks are of unusually high dynamic range, and notably clear and transparent. All of the alternative recordings listed above are more expressive, more passionate, but none are so well recorded, and none are more capably played. Ms. Fischer, who certainly showed us what she can do in her gorgeous Vivaldi Four Seasons video, takes an energetic and youthful approach to these works which were generally written by youthful - well, Glazunov was in his early middle age - composers. But, overall, none of the recordings on this disk is as satisfying musically as any of the listed alternates. Certainly the Oistrakh Prokofiev and Khachaturian concerto recordings are absolutely necessary in any collection which includes that music. Although I greatly enjoy and admire most Glazunov, I have never particularly liked this concerto. Fischer’s graceful, well-structured, thoughtful approach is very appealing. I prefer it to the Heifetz version, although Heifetz sets out to find more passion in the score and most listeners will likely prefer Heifetz. Paul Shoemaker 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 [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     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

Return to Index

Reviews from previous months Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.