After owning (and loving) the piano version (The Art of Piano) of this DVD, I finally sat down to watch the Violin one. I am about halfway through and although I don't adore it as I adore the piano one, I am still enjoying this one. As with the Piano one, I am learning some interesting stuff. For example, I learned that Heifetz preferred to have his violin miked very closely, which is why his tone comes off as harsh on recordings. Apparently in the concert hall he had a gorgeous tone.
Is the list of violinists on the cover exhaustive? If so, in addition to some more obvious names like Adolf Busch, it omits one I would call to your attention: Max Rostal, evidently the star student of master pedagogue and virtuoso Carl Flesch. Unfortuantly, Rostal seems not to have recorded a lot. A good introduction is on that little Melo Classic label that I've mentioned before.
I think it is exhaustive. Luckily, I have a number of Busch recordings, with and without Rudolf Serkin.
Re-listened to this today, an LP I found in the bins a few months ago. It's Günter Wand heading the Gürzenich Orchestra of Cologne, playing Bartók's Music for Strings, Percurssion and Celesta and Divertimento. Lovely cover by Henri Matisse. The pressing looks mid-‘60-ish. I had never seen this before and never had even heard of this orchestra. The ensemble sounds smaller than usual, and it's a vibrant interpretation. I googled "Gürzenich Orchestra" and I learned on Wikipedia that this orchestra was founded at the end of the 19th century. They premiered some of my favourite pieces: Brahms’ Double Concerto and Mahler’s 3rd and 5th symphonies! Holy moly!
Claude Debussy – Quartet for Strings in G minor Op.10 Maurice Ravel – Quartet for Strings in F major — Emerson String Quartet (Deutsche Grammophon)
I enjoy both The Abbado/Berlin is my reference. This Mahler discussion prompted me to pull out this new (to me) performance, 1971 recording at Royal Festival Hall.
Definitely not for me, would make the bottom of my list as far as Mahler S9 I have heard, a shame since they captured the venue's sound nicely.
Had these two on my wishlist for a long time and finally found them online for a good price tonight. The first one has her mono recordings of the complete Partitas from the 1950s. The second one has her 1957 Goldberg Variations, Italian Concerto, French Overture (Partita) in B minor and her 1959 Duets BWV 802-805. I have a ton of volumes from this series and highly recommend them. The performances are always special and are often had to find elsewhere on CD.
I first heard this recording driving to Ravinia with a buddy, and in response to having earlier told him I hadn't heard Barbirolli's Mahler he brought this CD - The plodding menace of the opening of the symphony (and much that followed) was a revelation - I get that it's not for everyone but it connected with me.
Whatever happened to Christian Sinding's "Rustle of Spring"? It used to be a concert and salon staple; I have a dozen recordings of it, all from turn of the 20th c. into the 1930s. Today, however, it seems to have disappeared. Funny how tastes change over time.
