Review: David Oistrakh's Great Recordings Really Are
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 มิ.ย. 2024
- Amazingly, the 17-disc David Oistrakh Great Recordings box, formerly on EMI and not repackaged by Warner, is still available at time of filming this video (July 2021). You won't find a violinist anywhere more masterly in the works of Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Sibelius, Prokofiev and, of course, Shostakovich. He was also an exceptionally sensitive partner in chamber music, and all of his many strengths are well represented here. This is an essential box for anyone who cares about great violin playing.
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Thanks Dave, I bought this box some years ago and it has given me great pleasure, Oistrakh is one of my favourite violinists, probably my favourite actually. For fellow fans there is also a fascinating and great box with some duplications of repertoire (of course) from Russian archives on Brilliant Classic, wonderful stuff!
The Brilliant box is even better. In his early recordings his technique and sound is even better.
Thank you for very informative review David! It is not only a delicious box but also contains many fun pieces
I love that set, I have always loved David Oikstrath’s performances. He was magnificent
Thank you, David for well deserved review of performances by David Oistrakh, the greatest violinist of the 20th cent. It was amazing, that he and a handful of other brilliant musicians, such as Richter, Gilels, Rostropovich, Virsaladze, were allowed to perform in the West, occasionally. That’s why all these recordings are priceless.
Growing in StPetersburg, RU I was very lucky to attend concerts of them all. But I also met Oistrakh in 1962 in a small Estonian spa- town, where he was recuperating from his first heart attack. His demeanor and overall appearance never attracted attention of locals, but Moscovites and StPete music connoisseurs kept their respectful distance. Only once, when Slava Rostropovich and Leo Oborin, visiting Oistrakh, decided to have fun and played spontaneously several trios in the small club house, only then the crowd instantly filled the club, spilling to lawn outside. What a thrill it was! No formal concert could be so joyous, sincere and warm.
Unfortunately that impromptu- concert has never been recorded.
Hilariously enough, my first LP box of the Complete Mozart Violin Concertos was David Oistrakh -- I loved it! Later, I studied the Mozart Violin Concerto No. 5 three times with three great violinists. Having done so, a local conductor requested that I "audition" this concerto for him as he wanted, oddly enough, to conduct the concerto. No problem, I thought -- so I whipped it up and played it for him. He turned me down, saying, "You play it like a Russian." Confused -- unaware there was that much of a difference (and not having listened to my LP set, for years) -- I played it for another great teacher/violinist, out of curiosity! HE said, "You play it like a Russian." Who knew? WARNING to any potential violinists -- I recommend you listen to either Arthur Grumiaux or Henryk Szerying BEFORE listening to Oistrakh. Apparently, once you've heard Oistrakh's (great!) renditions, you will be unable to get the Russian out of you.
Thank you for the review ! The Khachaturian Violin Sonata in G minor is by Karen Khachaturian (Aram’s nephew). Jascha Heifetz himself admired this work and recorded it.
King David!! My favourite violinist.
Thanks Dave. For me too, this March 1972 performance of the Sinfonia Concertante with the Berlin Phil is a wonder of the world.
Some listening experiences stay with you - a well loved and ultimately well worn cassette tape of the Oistrakh/Klemperer Brahms Violin Concerto on CFP, and an equally treasured HMV Concert Classics Lp with his Mozart 3rd Violin Concerto on one side and the sublime Gilels' Beethoven 4th Piano Concerto with the Philharmonia and Leopold Ludwig on the other. The stuff dreams are made of!
After Oistrakh's and Grumiaux's box sets, now I am dreaming of Josef Suk's mega set coming out, which I hope to be as classy and elegant as his playing.
I have this box - cannot wait to have time to listen to this review.
Interesting that you mentioned the Szymanowski Sonata/Concerto accompanied by Vladimir Yampolski...I actually played in the Symanowski Violin Concerto in a cello section under Yampolski's son, Victor, our orchestra director at Northwestern University. Victor was a talented violinist who came to America on a Tanglewood fellowship on Bernstein's recommendation and was in the second violin section of the Boston Symphony for years before turning to conducting full-time.
Our soloist for the Symanowski, btw, was Gerardo Ribeiro, one of our NU violin professors.
When I was 25 yrs. old, and ignorant, I bought a recording of Lalo's Spanish symphony, listened to it once, and I've been fortunate enough that I've never heard it again since.
Since I collect a lot of things, especially live performance broadcasts as well as studio recordings I have heard it many more times but it doesn't get anymore attractive. I even have the score but when it comes around it just gets put on while I'm doing other things, no matter how fine the executant. Luckily. today it doesn't seem to be performed anywhere near as often as it used to be. How many have actually heard it in the concert hall this century? I never have.
Disc One and we're off! I adore the earlier Triple Concerto with Sargent. I had the Karajan set, but never cared for it, because the orchestra seems not on the level of the rightly esteemed soloists. I wish I could afford this. I imagine the Sibelius might be fantastic.
Such a nice review.
Best wishes from George
As always enjoyed your talk. I am listening to the Shostakovich Piano concerto with Mitropoulos (on the CD it also has
Rostropovich performing the Cello concerto with Ormandy). I like listening to Mitropoulos --He has an "edge" that I find very moving...He always has something to "say". Bernstein idolized him...I believe he had his cufflinks as a good luck charm. Have you thought about giving a video talk about this very interesting conductor? (I first got to know him from his many fine live opera performances at the Met).
I love your passion ...Keep it up --I just wonder how you can listen to the 1000s of recordings ... jerel
Give yourself 40+ years and you'd be amazed.
I have no proof, but was TOLD a story about the final movement of the Lalo Symphonie Espagnole: Bronislaw Huberman was slated to play Lalo Symphonie Espagnole in a small town somewhere. His fee was $1,000 for the concert but the orchestra and conductor pleaded that it's a small town -- we don't have the numbers to fill the hall -- and negotiated a smaller fee. According to the story -- and who would make this up? -- the hall was PACKED to capacity. Huberman played whatever first 3 or 4 movements (whatever he played) and waited until the conductor had begun the final movement... This is where the soloist leaned over to the conductor and whispered, "I want $1,000." The conductor shook his head and kept going. The soloist insisted but the conductor continued to shake his head. When the time for the soloist to come in -- after that boring opening -- Huberman did not play. The frantic conductor had the orchestra start over, continuing the mindless vamp then conceded: "Okay -- you get $1,000" and Huberman played to the end.
I have this, a rich set beautifully played
The Beethoven Sonatas w Lev Oborin on Philips: I have never heard a better set than this. Better even than Menuhin and Kempf. Lots of vibrato but yes, Dave, what a fiddler!
Oistrakh, Kogan, Milstein, my top 3 violinists.
Oh ! Exact same here.
Me too!
@@brunoluong7972 🤝
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Dave you rule!.. Just found a sealed copy on EMI (2008) It's Called "The Complete Recordings", I'm assuming the exact same set.
Not a fan of the Lalo either! It's ok light music I guess. But you made me spend money again today! Mention of the great Oistrakh/Ormandy Sibelius recording makes me salivate for that Ormandy stereo box which we know MUST come. Un bel di... I'm still making my way through the mono trove though. Some performances meh but so many marvels too.
I would be interest in Your opinion on Vasa Prihoda.
You mentioned Grumiaux at the beginning. Do you know anything about that new box set? It just came out and it's already not available. I think there was a production problem, but did that get fixed or is that set simply out of the catalogue now?
It got fixed.
It completes the DGG 22 cds set. with all Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, Philips and Westminster. Maybe we can still find it,...
Norman lembrecht in " life and death
Of classical music " was extremely critical of the Herbie Beethoven triple concerto
I liked the recording..but I always took the triple concerto as beethovenian fluff. Still a little fluff wont hurt anyone...
Another GREAT review, Mr. Hurwitz! And since you asked, itʼs pronounced klɥitɛ̃s in french, and klœytəns in dutch... ;-)
I know. On the one hand, I'm just kidding around because everyone does it differently, and on the other hand, I don't really care how silly I sound because everyone does it differently.
Thank you, David, about David. I've always admired the man's unassuming demeanor and how you might mistake him for an assistant manager at AutoZone rather than a virtuoso. I don't know how much was real and how much was fabricated by his Soviet handlers, but I don't think too it's far off-base to consider him a working-class hero. Was he any good as a conductor?
I was fortunate to have attended two programs with David Oistrakh in May of 1974 with the Berlin Philharmonic, which included Handel Watermusic, Prokofiev 5, and Mozart Jupiter Symphony, in addtion to the G Major Concerto & the Sinfonia concertante (with Igor).
Absolutely fabulous as soloist, and very fine as a conductor.
Yes, actually, he was quite a good conductor.
Oistrakh/Ehrling's Sibelius was the first violin concerto I ever heard, at a friend's house on his parents' gramophone ("Has a nice tone, doesn't it?"). It floored me but that lp was unavailable in my neck of the woods in the mid '60s. As soon as EMI issued Melodyia's recording - Oistrakh with Rozhdestvensky - I bought it. David's playing is gorgeous but the magic of the Ehrling performance is missing, the accompaniment rather lacklustre and not helped by a recessed recording. Not sure if I want to spring for a whole box, but one way or another I have to hear that Oistrakh/Ehrling again.
Thank you for a grand and expansive review of this set.
My copy of the same 17-CD David Oistrakh box is an EMI product. As it happens, I grew up with my parents playing the Oistrakh Trio LP of the first Schubert piano trio, so that became my personal benchmark recording of the piece. Have heard that trio on other recordings (Beaux Arts Trio, etc) and live played by many trios (Beaux Arts Trio, etc), and really love the work (as well as the second trio). But it was a personal selling point (nostalgia?) that I could acquire that classic trio recording in this box set of CDs, along with so many other gems of Oistrakh's artistry.
Sounds like once you grow to love the katchaturian you don’t want to throw it back.
Lev O..Boring ? he was anything but !!!