The Greatest Violinist of the 20th Century Was...

[Harry Collier]

I have never really found out which are your top 5 versions of Mendelssohn VC? Perhaps you can share who your top violinist is for Mendelssohn's VC - nominate 2 versions irrespective of sound (i.e. fantastic playing, interp) and also 3 versions that are more recent (better sound and excellent playing). Do enlighten us, Harry.

Impossible! I  have 66 complete versions of the Mendelssohn and cannot imagine just picking one or two. But going through, in alphabetical order by violinist, I can list those I ENJOY listening to:

Michèle Auclair (1963)
Sarah Chang (1994 -- I was there!)
Mischa Elman (1947)
Jascha Heifetz (1949)
Leonid Kogan (1959)
Fritz Kreisler (1926)
Georg Kulenkampff (1935)
Yehudi Menuhin (1938 -- the one I grew up with)
Akiko Suwanai (2000)
Ion Voicu (1963)

A real mixed bag. And quite subjective, I'm afraid.

[MichaelRabin]

Harry - of your choices, I have Heifetz, Kogan, Kreisler, Menuhin & Suwanai. Yes, indeed our choices are very subjective - the interpreters make their subjective thoughts and commit them to disc and we also subjectively listen to their discs. Cheers - Lee

[Mark]

We interrupt this thread to bring you breaking news:

**John Allison - The Gramophone Magazine - November 2007 Edition**

Nigel Kennedy " ... is very possibly the world's greatest violinist ... "


We now return you to your regular posting.

[Harry Collier]

We interrupt this thread to bring you breaking news:

**John Allison - The Gramophone Magazine - November 2007 Edition**

Nigel Kennedy " ... is very possibly the world's greatest violinist ... "

Shows what a load of amateurs we are on this board. No one even mentioned old Nige!

[karlhenning]

[MichaelRabin]

Sounds like the "best" Classical magazine in the world - Gramophone, is beginning to sound very "amateurish" in their opinion of Nigel Kennedy!

[Mark]

Sounds like the "best" Classical magazine in the world - Gramophone, is beginning to sound very "amateurish" in their opinion of Nigel Kennedy!

Quite.

Hard to respect a publication (or, more correctly, a music journalist) which favours dear old Nige over ... well, let's pick any better violinist at random. How about Mullova? I admire the guy's idiosyncratic playing and the joy in music making which Kennedy so obviously has (his recordings ring with such joy), but to refer to him as Allison has done seems a tad OTT.

[MichaelRabin]

Mullova was the ice-cool lady from Russia. She may have chilled out since coming & living in England from colder Russia. Not very into Mullova playing - sorry.

[Mark]

Mullova was the ice-cool lady from Russia. She may have chilled out since coming & living in England from colder Russia. Not very into Mullova playing - sorry.

Whether or not you're into Mullova (I'd certainly like to be ), surely you agree she's a vastly superior fiddler when compared with Kennedy?

[Peregrine]

Whether or not you're into Mullova (I'd certainly like to be )

You dirty boy...you're a married man!

[Mark]

You dirty boy...you're a married man!

Oh, c'mon - she's gorgeous:

[Peregrine]

Oh, c'mon - she's gorgeous:

Dunno', can never make up my mind. I find she look's quite 'boyish' at times, but hey, whatever floats your boat!

[Gurn Blanston]

Shows what a load of amateurs we are on this board. No one even mentioned old Nige!

Unlike John, I suspect it is because we aren't being paid to...



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Now playing: Vienna PO / Muti - Haydn 7 Last Words for Orchestra pt 4 Sonata III

[Don]

Mullova was the ice-cool lady from Russia. She may have chilled out since coming & living in England from colder Russia. Not very into Mullova playing - sorry.

Oh, that "ice-cool" label is just a bunch of nonsense.  I've always felt that her emotional content is fine or better.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Oh, that "ice-cool" label is just a bunch of nonsense.  I've always felt that her emotional content is fine or better.

Yep. Same here.

Heaven only knows where that "ice" nickname came from but if ever something were misapplied...

[MichaelRabin]

Heifetz was ice-cool - but another different sort of "cool" way.

[Harry Collier]

Yep. Same here.

Heaven only knows where that "ice" nickname came from but if ever something were misapplied...

It probably came from the same place as the label "cold" applied to Heifetz's playing, of all things. Mullova ain't ice -- just listen to her in the first Paganini concerto!

[MichaelRabin]

Probably her best performance on CD but with a slightly wider vibrato than what
I like (Mullova in Paganini 1 & Vieuxtemps 5).

[MichaelRabin]

As I have none of these works, I've added this to my wishlist.

George - you will not regret this as it is one of the very best Heifetz compilation of concertos and the Bruch Scottish Fantasy and Vieuxtemps VC 5 are two of his pieces de resistance.  Regards - Lee

[MichaelRabin]

George - and this Heifetz SACD is of superb sound quality. Cheers - Lee