Search - Johannes Brahms, Bernard Haitink, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra :: Brahms: Violin Concerto; Double Concerto

The happy choice

Musicus | Oslo, Norway | 10/09/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"More reviews and audio samples of this price favourable reissue, you'll find by amazon search string: B0000041C2.

These grand Haitink/Szeryng/Starker-versions would probably be my choice if I for some reason wanted both concertos, op. 77 & 102, on the same CD. I have many recordings of these concertos, Abbado/Shaham/Wang (lyrical, intimate beauty), Ormandy/Stern/Rose (fierce energy), and of op. 77 alone I have even more versions, Oistrakh/Klemperer (grand and beautiful) and Heifetz, with both Reiner (forward drive, very good shape of the work and great playing) and Koussivetsky (great range of moods).

Among my favourites is this Haitink/Szeryng/Starker, which at the moment also happens to be among the cheapest. One version cannot have all the qualities of all the other versions, of course. These two performances are missing a little bit in passion, in spark, and I should perhaps have removed one star for this. However, it stirs my appetite for more; in spite of quite slow tempi, it has a forward drive and a feeling of meaningful wholeness. It has a certain grandour, it is something of a happy celebration; It never fails to put me in a good mood. And it is very cheap.



If you want state-of-the-art-sound and can tolerate to buy the two concertos separately (you should tolerate that), I recommend Mullova/Abbado live in Japan for the op. 77 and Mordkovitch/Wallfisch/Jarvi for the op. 102. Those performances are the best I have heard to date; considered the wonderful sound, the Mordkovitch/Wallfisch/Jarvi goes straight to the top, and Mullova/Abbado is nothing less than a must-have; Mullova's playing is quite expressive.

Op. 77 Mullova/Abbado live in Japan, more recommended than anything else: Johannes Brahms: Violin Concerto

Op. 102 (and Bruch's popular 1st) Mordkovitch/Wallfisch/Jarvi, beautiful but missing the passion you'll find by Mullova on op 77: Bruch: Violin Concerto, Op. 102; Brahms: Violin Concerto, Op. 26"