Oistrakh

TDavid Oistrakh was one of those violinists beloved by people who don't especially like violinists. Don't get me wrong, plenty of violin aficionados love him too. But the fact that he played with such warmth of tone and musicality, never indulging in the screeching cat-music stuff that some violinists think sounds flashy, makes him uniquely listenable to folks not into violin playing for its own sake. Perhaps the fact that he was also a distinguished conductor had something to do with it, for he always seems to know where he is–how everything fits together. His performance of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto is a case in point: soulful, exciting, never ragged or overblown. Add Emil Gilels' epic rendering of the Piano Concerto and how can you refuse?

Super rare David Oistrakh Recording with Vladimir Yampolsky ‎at the Piano. These “Encores” are a vibrant collection of classics and crowd pleasers full of spine-tingling grandeur guaranteed to enrapture.

These performances of Khachaturian's concertos for piano and violin are almost but not quite definitive. Both works are played by the performers for whom they were composed, Lev Oborin in the Piano Concerto and David Oistrakh in the Violin Concerto, and both receive performances of complete commitment, total dedication, utter authority, and unbelievable virtuosity.

One of the greatest violinists of his time and a characteristic representative of the Russian school of violin playing, David Oistrakh (1908-1974) was a towering international figure in the middle decades of the 20th century. He had one of the most rich and noble tones ever created by a violinist and a technique to match his interpretive gifts.

One of the greatest violinists of his time and a characteristic representative of the Russian school of violin playing, David Oistrakh (1908-1974) was a towering international figure in the middle decades of the 20th century. He had one of the most rich and noble tones ever created by a violinist and a technique to match his interpretive gifts.