Rondo Brilliant: remembering Stern's sweet and singing tone
Scott68 | Columbus, Ohio United States | 02/27/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Rondo Brilliant indeed, geesh they weren't kidding!Schubert was really a great composer with alot of creative and unique ideas. Alot of violinists talk about how unviolinistic his music is and how difficult it is to play with expression and sound natural, Milstein complained how Schubert would go on and on with a piece of music but...The Rondo Brilliant is an awesome sonata written for violin and piano, it would be hard to argue that this is not one of the most important sonatas ever written for violin. As an interpreter, I try to listen to as many recordings as I can to hear different opinions about how the music should sound.The Grand Duo in A is an intensely melodic piece that is so lyrical that even Kreisler played it with Rachmaninoff. The sonatinas are simple and not really technically demanding but are sincere and full of beauty. Isaac Stern is not my favorite soloist but he plays a wonderful violin once owned by the great Ysaye and gets such a unique sweet tone from his violin. I think that his strength as a soloist is that he gets caught up in the drama of the music even though his intonation and timing are not the best.Daniel Barrenboim is not just a great pianist but also has the ability to provide accompanyment with sensitivity and authority. The piano does not dominate in this recording, allowing Stern's violin to sing freely.I bought this CD to remember Mr. Stern and his great sounding violin. I would recommend getting several other recordings of the Fantasy, Grand Duo, and Rondo Brillaint in addition to this one including Heifetz, Kang, and Busch (I like all of them for different reasons).If you are like me and are craving different examples of tone color, you will find that Mr. Stern had a unique sound to offer us and this is the recording I use to remember his legacy.4 &1/2 stars"
Beautiful music, brilliantly played
N. F. Heard | Danville, Virginia United States | 11/07/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"my son and i are learning the violin and piano sonatas and we purchased this cd to help us learn some of the areas we with which we were not as familiar. we have both enjoyed it; they are all brilliantly performed. some of the tempos are on the quick side, but overall, it is wonderful, not only for listening, but for learning."