Violin Concerto and Sonatas
When it comes to the Violin Concerto in D, it really is a choice of who is your favorite player, since all of the recommendations are very good in their own way with excellent support from the conductor and orchestra along with good sound balance.
The Heifetz / Munch / Boston SO recording is packaged with the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in it's latest Living Stereo release and is not only a bargain but at the top of the list of performances too. The sound is a bit bright, and Heifetz can get a tad shrill with the playing, but overall a great performance and one of the fastest ones around too.
For a much slower and richer sounding performance, Sophie van Mutter with Karajan is a good choice with the violin sound set a little further back with the orchestra, also on MP3 Album.
A similar recording with Perlman and Giulini on EMI is now part of the Great Recordings of the Century line. The classic Grumiaux and Szeryng recordings [both on Philips] seem to be out of print at the moment, but worth getting too if you run across them.
The Heifetz / Munch / Boston SO recording is packaged with the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in it's latest Living Stereo release and is not only a bargain but at the top of the list of performances too. The sound is a bit bright, and Heifetz can get a tad shrill with the playing, but overall a great performance and one of the fastest ones around too.
For a much slower and richer sounding performance, Sophie van Mutter with Karajan is a good choice with the violin sound set a little further back with the orchestra, also on MP3 Album.
A similar recording with Perlman and Giulini on EMI is now part of the Great Recordings of the Century line. The classic Grumiaux and Szeryng recordings [both on Philips] seem to be out of print at the moment, but worth getting too if you run across them.
Beethoven's Violin Sonatas with piano accompaniment are most famous for the 5th 'Spring' and the 9th 'Kreutzer'. The best recording of these two works is by Perlman / Ashkenazy from 1973, with the violin up front and the piano recessed with a nice acoustic sound, available on MP3 album. They also have a set of all 10 Sonatas in a box set.
There are some great sets of all of the Sonatas at some very good prices. On CD Zukerman and Neikrug on BMG are a great bargain. For an MP3 album, try the Schneiderhan and Seemann recording on DG. They are not as well known but have some great playing on their set.
There are some great sets of all of the Sonatas at some very good prices. On CD Zukerman and Neikrug on BMG are a great bargain. For an MP3 album, try the Schneiderhan and Seemann recording on DG. They are not as well known but have some great playing on their set.
