Szymankowskis Violin Concerti

I was browsking Berkshire and I saw a recording of the above coupled with Stravinsky's violin concerti. I believe it's Dutoit/Montreal. Has anybody heard this recording? Is it worth four bucks? Just keep in mind, I'm not asking what is the definitive recording of these pieces. I'm just asking if it's decent enough recording to shell out cash for. If you can provide any relevant information, that would be great.

David Whitbeck

These are good performances, albeit not terribly idiomatic. Szymanowski's best music (and I put both concertos in this category) are a fascinating mix of Polish exoticism with a Parisian hue. Dutoit is decidedly not one of my favorite conductors and I don't feel he gets much into these scores. Juillet is fine however. I put these recordings on a par with Rattle's set, sharing a lot of the same strengths and weaknesses.

You said not to do this but I must! My favorite recordings are the Kulka set, now freshly remastered in a very nice EMI two-fer. So, while not as cheap as Berkshire, you get a lot more music for about $16.

Yes and yes.

This is actually the *worst* of the recordings currently on offer at Berkshire, imo. You would be better off with Kulka (EMI

I suppose it's decent, but Juillet has a very small sound and never construes the slightest sense of ecstacy that others have in this music, and Dutoit's interpretation is pretty straightforward. For slightly more you can get a fine performance from Kulka/Lasocki on Naxos, although this still isn't the best out there (I like Danczowska on Accord and, yes, Zehetmair/Rattle).

The Stravinsky coupling is also servicable but nothing to write home about. With so many excellent recordings available (many cheaply), this one is pretty extraneous.

Cheers,

Marcus Maroney marcus dot maroney at yale dot edu

If you like to split hairs, the best performance on record is arguably Oistrakh/Rodzinski, but that is very hard to find, it's only one of the conceti, and the sound is only so-so.

dk

I see that a few of you noticed that there are better recordings of those works on berkshire. I didn't even think they had such a selection. I think I might go for the Kulka/EMI. Six bucks for a cd is cheap, I think I can afford an extra two bucks if the performance is much improved. In the future I'll make sure to see if Berkshire has multiple recordings of a work.

David Whitbeck

I do think the Juillet/Dutoit has by far the best sound of the lot, and I am not quite as critical of Juillet's performance as others on this ng. On the other hand, when it comes to the violin repertoire I am not much of a connoisseur.

Details, please. I have Oistrakh / Sanderling in the First Concerto on a Urania CD. It is a good performance, but not superior to Wilkomirska's or Danczowska's, and the sound, as you say, is 'so-so.'. The outstanding historical of #1 is Uminska / Fitelberg, which used to be available on a Lys CD with dim sound. (They recorded both concerti, but their #2 has not been issued on CD, afaik).

Thanks for that info. I wasn't aware that Dutoit had the best sound. I'm not very good in distinguishing subtle differences with soloists for any instrument. I think I will get the Dutoit then. Save myself two bucks.

David Whitbeck

Sorry, no details. I do not feel inclined to search my record/CD collection (not cataloged) every time someone wants the details of a CD.

If I have it handy, I will provide the details.

If I have to search for it, I don't have time.

Sorry, that's life.

dk