Anne Sophie Mutter, Berliner Philharmoniker, Manfred Honeck Dvorak: Violin Concerto, Romance, Mazurek (2013) (repost)

Surprisingly this seems to be the only disc coupling what might reasonably be counted the two greatest romantic Russian violin concertos: if Vengerov's reading of the Tchaikovsky emerges clearly as a leading contender among many superb versions, in the Glazunov he gives a warhorse concerto extra dimensions, turning it from a display piece into a work of far wider-ranging emotions. This Tchaikovsky immediately establishes itself as a big performance, not through close placing of the soloist — the balance is forward though not excessively so — but both in the manner and in the range of dynamic of the playing.

These accounts are quite magnificent, and their claims on the allegiance of collectors remain strong. Their freshness and vigour remind one of what it was like to hear these symphonies for the first time. The atmosphere is authentic in feeling and the sense of nature seems uncommonly acute. Kubelík has captured the enthusiasm of his players and generates a sense of excitement and poetry. The playing of the Berlin Philharmonic is marvellously eloquent and, as is often the case, a joy in itself. The woodwinds phrase with great poetic feeling and imagination, and all the departments of this great orchestra respond with sensitivity and virtuosity.

Five Piano Concertos and the Piano Sonata No. 32, opus 111, recorded in stereo in 1962 and 1964, respectively, by Wilhelm Kempff [1895-1991] and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Ferdinand Leitner [1912-96]. The sonata, the composer’s last, is certainly more than a mere filler, from the opening hesitancy of the ‘Allegro con brio ed appassionato’ to the extended closing section of the second movement.

Acclaimed violinist and prolific recording artist Philippe Graffin scored a major coup when he unearthed the Violin Concerto of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, the Afro-English composer whose star has waned since the height of his fame at the turn of the last century, but has rapidly risen again on the strength of this world-premiere recording.

In February 2001 the Berliner Philharmoniker and Claudio Abbado were guests at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome with all Beethoven symphonies. Their success was overwhelming with standing ovations after each performance. “Abbado, a Furtwängler admirer in principle, seems ever more Italian, his tauter lyricism allied to a sense of forward movement influenced, we are told, by period practice. The surprise is not the Mediterranean luminosity and scrupulous attention to instrumental detail - one expects nothing less from this source - but the animating sense of line. The Seventh Symphony… knows precisely where it's going and why… The sense of joy present throughout is overwhelming by the close.” - Gramophone Magazine.

Ligeti’s works on this disc provide an excellent cross-section of the metamorphosis in his compositional technique over a period of 30 years. The Violin Concerto incorporates influences from Medieval and Renaissance music, from late Romantic music and various contemporary styles.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Concertos for Violin and Orchestra Nos. 3 & 5
Anne-Sophie Mutter / Herbert von Karajan / Berliner Philharmoniker
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 298 MB | Full Artwork: 49 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Deutsche Grammophon "The Originals" # 457 746-2 GOR | Country/Year: Germany 1999, 1978
Genre: Classical | Style: Viennese School

…After winning several prizes, she was exempted from school to dedicate herself to her art. When she was 13, conductor Herbert von Karajan invited her to play with the Berlin Philharmonic: she made her public debut on stage in 1976 at the Lucerne Festival, playing Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 4 in D major. In 1977, she made her debut at the Salzburg Festival and with the English Chamber Orchestra under Daniel Barenboim. At 15, Mutter made her first recording of the Mozart Third and Fifth violin concerti with Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic…