Search - Sergey Prokofiev, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, BBC Symphony Orchestra :: Prokofiev Violin Concertos & Sonata for Two Violins

Top notch readings of these concerti in excellent sound

John Grabowski | USA | 08/09/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Santa Fe Listener is right about Perlman, except that I wouldn't characterize his decline into dullness as a phenomenon of "lately." I remember making the complaint against him 15+ years ago, and I wasn't the only one noticing: the book "Who's Afraid of Classical Music" by Bill Walsh, published in the late 80s, states that Perlman's technique had already "frittered away." True true true. So much so that there's not much Perlman in my rather large CD collection, and almost none of it very recent. Why bother, when nearly every other violinist out there is much more interesting. Perlman fits perfectly into the PBS mindset of what classical music should be: familiar, easy on the ears, and dull dull dull.



One happy exception is this CD, which features just about the best recording of the two Prokofiev concerti I've ever heard. It's not just Perlman who deserves the credit, however. Collaborator Gennady Rozhdestvensky leads the BBC Symphony Orchestra perform brilliantly--listen to the entrance of those cool, distant, haunting winds at the very beginning of the first concerto, for one example of his they make themselves felt without ever overshadowing their soloist. Throughout, GR's support is rock-steady but never spotlight-stealing. He judges tempi perfectly: in the scherzo of the first concerto he keeps up tention in the B-theme, something many don't do, and he gets just the right satirical "limp" in the finale--something missing in Oistrakh's fine recording on EMI because conductor Alceo Galliera takes things too fast. Perlman gives us an unusually-rich color palette--sweet, burnished, gritty, eerie--whatever the music calls for at that moment, and Prokofiev listeners know he's forever quick-changing moods. Perlman handles it all with such ease you'd think he learned these works at the master's knee. He plays the development sections of both concerti's first movements with unusual raw passion, which is just what they need. This is not Perlman idling, far from it.



Sound is superb. This is one recording that should be in the collection of anyone who loves Perlman, loves Prokofiev, or loves great classical fiddle-playing in general. There are lots of great recordings of these works out there (Oistrak, Bell, Chang, Shaham, Stern, Sitkovetsky, Akiko-Meyers) but this one tops all I've heard. Run, don't walk."

Perlman is alive and alert in these concertos--one of his be

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 07/13/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When you are universally acclaimed over a period of three decades, it's easy to fall back into routine, which I feel has happened with Itzhak Perlman lately. But not here. These are vibrant, often biting accounts of the two Prokofiev concertos, and they show such personality and commitment that Perlman surpasses Oistrakh, Milstien, Joshua Bell, and many others. In my experience only Gil Shaham (with Previn on DG) and Maxim Vengerov (with Rostropovich on Teldec) are close rivals, and even those CDs lack Gennadi Rozhdestvensky's outstanding orchestral accompaniments.



Perlman exhibits a marvelous variety of tone here--sweet and singing in the first and final movements of Concerto #1, biting and quirky in the Scherzo, puckish astringency in the finale of Concdrto #2. Usually this artist doesn't like to make any sounds that aren't beautiful, and certainly his tone remains lovely most of the time, but Prokofiev was an acerbic composer, and since he can also verge on the treacly, it's vital to put some astringency into the violin tone, as Perlman does very well. I've heard more longing and tenderness in the opening bars of Concerto #2, and more visceral attack in the finale, but that's a small critcism. Here we have a master musician in his prime. (Be prepared for ultra-close placement of the soloist, however.) Five stars without hesitation."