A Definitive Brahms Violin/Double Concerto Recording
John Kwok | New York, NY USA | 05/15/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This splendid recording of Brahms' Violin Concerto and Double Concerto for Violin and Cello is recognized in the Grammophone Guide to Classical CDs as definitive. I doubt I have heard either concerto played with such sweetness and warmth as I have heard from Kremer and Hagen. Kremer's playing of both concerti is steeped in lyricism as well as technical brilliance. His playing of Brahms' violin concerto is as commanding a performance as Vengerov's with Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Kremer's and Hagen's performance of the Double Concerto has no peer among recent recordings. Neither outshines the other, giving compassionate, lyrical performances of equal merit. In the liner notes they mention how they treated the Double Concerto as a piece of chamber music, giving it a "light touch"; their approach to Brahms' music succeeds admirably. Harnoncourt and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra offer the finest sympathetic treatment of these scores that I have heard. Once more, Teldec's engineers have recorded live performances that sound as good as those in the studio, with some help from the Concertgebouw's (the symphony hall, not the orchestra) warm acoustics."