Another Great Concerto from Stern
Michael B. Richman | Portland, Maine USA | 10/05/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Volume 11 of the "Isaac Sten: A Life in Music" series finds the great violinist playing the works of composer Alban Berg. The gem of this CD is Stern's 1959 account of the Berg Violin Concerto with Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic. This is my third recording of this piece (the others being the Perlman/Ozawa and the Mutter/Levine -- two highly acclaimed performances) and this vintage stereo title is my personal favorite. However, the 1985 recording of the Chamber Concerto for Piano and Violin with Thirteen Winds, with pianist Peter Serkin and conductor Claudio Abbado leading members of the London Symphony Orchestra, is not the best I have encountered. I would have to give the nod to the Barenboim/Zukerman/Boulez rendition on DG Originals over the performance presented here. In all though, another excellent disc in an enjoyable series."