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| | Wieniawski: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 | | | Music Style : | | General | | Record Label : | | Deutsche Grammophon | | Release Date : | | 1992-08-11 | | Store Price : | | $16.98 | | Artistopia's Price: $16.98 | | Usually ships in 24 hours | | |
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CD Tracks/Songs
Disc 11. Violin Concerto No. 1 in F sharp minor, Op. 14: 1. Allegro moderato
2. Violin Concerto No. 1 in F sharp minor, Op. 14: 2. Preghiera. Larghetto
3. Violin Concerto No. 1 in F sharp minor, Op. 14: 3. Rondo. Allegro giocoso
4. Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 22: Allegro moderato
5. Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 22: Romance: Andante non troppo
6. Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 22: Allegro con fuoco / Allegro moderato (? la Zingara)
7. L?gende, for violin & orchestra (or piano) in G minor, Op. 17
8. Zigeunerweisen, for violin & piano (or orchestra) ('Gypsy Airs'), Op. 20
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Customer Reviews of This Album/CD |
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 Good, not great
Submitted on: 2009-08-18 |
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How you react to this recording will probably correspond to your familiarity with the violinists of the middle of the 20th century.
Anyone who has seen the video 'The Art of Violin' by Bruno Monsaingeon will probably remember the clip in which the late Yehudi Menuhin observes, "Today there are so many violinists who play really wonderfully that aren't great violinists." To me Mr. Shaham is a case in point. There is no disputing that his execution is flawlessly clean, and his intonation exact. What is missing is first, a viscerally moving tone along the lines of Heifetz, Kreisler, Oistrakh, Kogan, Stern etc. etc., that takes one's breath away; and secondly, the temperament that makes this kind of showy virtuoso repertory exciting. Time and again he overstresses, drags out, interrupts the flow of brilliant passagework to mar its effect (most evident in Zigeunerweisen, where the repeated portato notes are labored beyond belief); obviously it is not that he can't do it, he just chooses not to. The impression is of a certain complacency rather than a burning passion to communicate.
I would not agree with Mr. Estrada's review that suggests Shaham is 'a factory worker'--his awesome technical accomplishments are far beyond that, and if what you want is to hear virtuoso effects perfectly executed, you will not be disappointed. However, I find his First Concerto's Preghiera doesn't have the tone to really overcome its limited melodic range, and the finale theme lacks the coquettishness others--Perlman for example--give it. In the Second Concerto, Shaham doesn't really approach the romp that Heifetz makes of the finale. One could go on and on.
Of course, the problem with older recordings is often somewhat inferior sound. If that is paramount to your decision to purchase, you may be happier with this recording than a 'classic'--but I think you'll be denying yourself a dimension of the music. If performance had delivered both technique and expression, I'd have given it 5 stars; if expression at the expense of some technical finish, 4 stars; as it is, while recognizing the violinist's admirable achievement, I can only give it 3 stars (or three and a half, given the lively orchestral accompaniment). |
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 Wieniawski: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2
Submitted on: 2008-06-09 |
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This is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I have
ever heard. I rate the highest of all. |
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Pretty Definitive Wieniawski
Submitted on: 2006-06-02 |
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I usually prefer to review CD's that have not been reviewed, but for Wieniawski I shall make and exception.
These two concertos actually do not begin with Wieniawski, but with Nicolo Paganini. Paganini, with his 6 violin concertos actually pioneered and epitomized a whole new type of concerto form, the showpiece. The showpiece concerto emphasized the fantastical, the showmanship, and the virtuosity of the performer. This came largely at the expense of depth or any great profundity. Wieniawski borrowed heavily from his predecessor whom he greatly admired.
The first concerto, (Which you really could call Paganini's 7th) is far and away the superior of the two in terms of compositional structure. I also feel it is the far more enjoyable and interesting musically. It is beyond me as to why the second is far more popular. The opening movement, with its flowing strings and orchestral adornments is a masterpiece of form, and the closing rondo of the first concerto could have been written by Paganini himself. The second concerto, while clearly an inferior work to the first, is still good. It is certainly not bereft of catchy melodies, or dazzling displays of performer virtuosity, both the principle hallmarks of Wieniawski. So if that's your shtick you can't go wrong with this CD. And for the conscientious listener, I would also strongly advise buying it with the complete Paganini concertos as played by Accardo and also done for the Deutsche Grammophon label.
Perhaps the greatest tragedy of all is the fate Wieniawski's Legende. I heard it first on this CD and have decided that it is one of the most beautiful pieces I've ever heard. Wieniawski wrote it for certain girl who he was infatuated with. It is almost never performed by orchestras today and is largely removed from the standard repertoire. This is very sad. It is not a showpiece work like the concertos. It is filled with deep emotion and expressive lyrical content. The Legende is juxtaposed against Sarasate's "Zigeunerweisen," a markedly inferior violin concert showpiece which is not really worth any further mention.
As to the quality of the performances themselves one could conceivably nitpick forever over the tiniest of details. Is Isaac Stern's Wieniawski vastly superior to Shaham's? The answer is no. Maybe Stern with his age and experience slightly outperforms Shaham on the second concerto.......slightly. But we should keep things in perspective. Gil Shaham is not a flavor of the month violinist or a performing monkey. He is internationally recognized by audiences and critics alike as one of the finest violinist living in the world today. And that's good enough for me.
This CD is a must have for any violin aficionado, or anyone who can appreciate what they have to offer.
Highly Recommended
Rembrandt Q. Einstein
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initiation for me..;-)
Submitted on: 2006-04-16 |
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| My favorite classical CD when I started listening to clasical.... now, 8 years later, I haven't found another classical CD That is more dearly loved.. I searched out other violinists because of some critics about Gil... If anyone is better, hell that will be unthinkable!!But, I never ever love anyone else more than gil playing all the songs on this CD.. a king of violin to me.. I have listened to this Cd with many many high-end audio systems costing $20,000 plus and many systems couldn't really express the dynamic and details from Gil.. Good solid state systems are actually better than tube systems for the tiuny details on this CD..I guess that's the problems for the bad feedbacks...happy Happy listening.. passionate, dynamic, sweet tone, heart-breaking emotion and great technigue/sound quality.... |
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Great Performances!
Submitted on: 2005-10-18 |
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| Although I do agree with many points presented by the reviewer below, I find his criticism somewhat excessively harsh against someone of Shaham's talents. Although perhaps he is somewhat of a cruder mold of Perlman, Perlman as with Heifetz sets a standard so high that it's very hard to meet. I think this was a great performance in which Shaham's specialties were best demonstrated. First of all, he's playing a Stradivarius here and so cannot possibly be the amateur some reviewers have made him out to be. As with Perlman, his method is founded in the Polish Romantic tradition of violin as led by Joseph Joachim to whom almost every composer turned to for drafting a violin concerto. There are certain deficiencies as the previous reviewer mentioned but they are rather academic at this level and such matters are ethical questions for musical groups, the music industry, and musical academies as opposed to the general buying public. The best performance on this album is The Gypsy Airs where Shaham demonstrates all of his great talents. |
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