Bruch Weithaas

There are several reasons to own this Vox Box 2CD set. For the first, it includes five great violin concertos in some of the very best performances in their discography. For the second, Ivry Gitlis (born 1922) is a great living violinist and these recordings made in early 1950s show his art in the best way, when Ivry's violin sounded powerful and brilliant.

Making her debut on Decca, Alisa Weilerstein presents three major works of the cello repertoire with Daniel Barenboim leading the Staatskapelle Berlin. The star vehicle, naturally, is Edward Elgar's Concerto in E minor, which Weilerstein plays with commanding presence, rich tone, and emotional depth. Most listeners will be drawn primarily to this performance because of the piece's familiarity, and Weilerstein's charisma and passionate playing make it the album's main attraction. Yet listeners should give Weilerstein and Barenboim credit for following the Elgar with an important if not instantly recognizable or approachable modernist work, Elliott Carter's powerful Cello Concerto. Weilerstein is quite bold to play this intensely dramatic and angular composition, and while it's unlikely to appeal to the majority of fans who adore the Elgar, it deserves its place on the program for its seriousness and extraordinary displays of solo and orchestral writing. To close, Weilerstein plays Max Bruch's Kol Nidrei, a Romantic work that returns the program to a mellow and melancholy mood and brings the CD to a satisfying close. Decca's reproduction is excellent, putting Weilerstein front and center with full resonance, but not leaving the vibrant accompaniment of the orchestra too far behind her.

Award-winning violinist Jack Liebeck brings his impassioned tones, fulsome emotional display and formidable technique to the first of three albums of music by Max Bruch.

Masur, who is far and away the best craftsman and the most sympathetic interpreter of these symphonies; moreover he has far and away the best orchestra at his command of all rivalling issues. I will merely draw attention to the majesty and inexorable propulsion of his No. 2, and the sheer exuberance of his rhythmic textures in No. 3, which also features a red-hot sensual climax for the slow movement of this symphony. The sound quality is not the best, judging by our standards; but it is clear, warm and natural, hardly subject to complaints.

On his second album for Alpha Classics, rising star violinist Kerson Leong juxtaposes the Violin Concertos of Bruch and Benjamin Britten. This unusual pairing is a reflection on the journey from one extreme of expression to another. Bruch’s In Memoriam is the perfect bridge between them.

Now we have all three of the concertos, plus the Scottish Fantasy, Op. 46, and the Serenade, Op. 75, all in one convenient 2-CD set. The reproduction is broad, spacious and defined, with the solo violin in perfect perspective.

Richard Hickox continues his excellent Bruch cycle with warm-hearted and forceful readings of the First Symphony and the Third Violin Concerto. Compared with Masur's slightly ramshackle Leipzig performance, Hickox and the LSO provide an extremely fresh sounding performance of the First Symphony. Many opening horn calls and some delightful woodwind solos add to the charm of a work, which should have a firmer hold on the orchestral repertoire. As regards tempi, Hickox is akin to James Conlon and his expansive Cologne performance (EMI) but Chandos' bloom depicts some wonderful playing from the LSO especially in the irresistible Allegro guerriero.

Jascha Heifetz was, probably, the greatest twentieth-century exponent of his instrument. Violin at its best, although some memorable recordings are … more memorable than others…

The viola is no longer the Cinderella of string instruments, thanks to such composers as Hindemith, Schnittke, Britten and Berio, but it was Walton who, in 1927, composed the first significant work for the viola since Berlioz’s Harold in Italy of 1834. Max Bruch also wrote for it; like Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante for violin/viola duo, he composed a concerto for viola and clarinet in 1911, with an alternative version substituting violin for clarinet. A short Romance had appeared in 1885, while Kol nidrei for cello also had a version for viola. All these works appear on this excellent disc and highlight the instrument’s strengths and weaknesses in the capable hands of Bashmet, currently one of its greatest exponents.

This was the first commercially produced SACD hybrid super audio on the market. In June of 2000, I sat in one room recording in pcm and the research team of Philips were in the room next door taking my analogue signal directly from my mixer. I first released my pcm version in the fall of 2000. The Pyramix at that time was very primitive but thanks to the Phliips team who worked around the clock to produce the software, we were able to get this DSD version out at the beginning of 2001.