Beethoven Violin Concerto

[Gurn Blanston]

Well, I will say right out that I hate old recordings, so we wouldn't ever reach any sort of happy agreement on that. I'm sure some of them have their merits, but I like my players to be still alive and kicking.   And that's just what Patricia Kopatchinskaja is doing on her recording, available here with the Champs Elysees Orchestra / Herreweghe.



This gal can fiddle, no question, she has the technique to handle pretty much anything that comes along. But in addition, the orchestra and Herreweghe are very good Beethoven interpreters (they do one of my more favorite 9ths). I will take this version over the 8-10 others I have, hands down. I would even recommend it to others!

[karlhenning]

Gurn, you're dangerous!

[Todd]

I'm also a bit ambivalent about LvB's Violin Concerto, but after years of looking I came upon one that has served me well for years now.  That is the Ferras / Karajan recording.  It's mostly a big ole', beautiful sonic blob, with Karajan creating a wall of sound, though one with muscle at times, and Ferras fiddles most attractively.  I have it on both CD and LP, and confess a preference for the LP.  The sound is lusher yet, and Ferras' tone sheds the hints of steel on CD.  (That probably means that the CD is more "accurate," but the LP sounds better.)

[DavidRoss]

Patricia Kopatchinskaja ... I will take this version over the 8-10 others I have, hands down. I would even recommend it to others!

Forgoing non-HIPsters (knowing your proclivities, similar to mine), you prefer to both Mullova/Gardiner and Zehetmair/Brüggen? 

Found this clip on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKOUIEpa6cA

and this explanation by Ms Kopatchinskaja: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7zl5lYAlb8&feature=related

[Que]

This gal can fiddle, no question, she has the technique to handle pretty much anything that comes along. But in addition, the orchestra and Herreweghe are very good Beethoven interpreters (they do one of my more favorite 9ths). I will take this version over the 8-10 others I have, hands down. I would even recommend it to others!

You have switched allegiances!

Q

[False_Dmitry]

Frankly I am surprised so many people have expressed apathy about this work - I would put it on the "essential listening-list" of anyone who is interested in classical music at all.  (Ditto for FIDELIO - another Beethoven work which is surprisingly neglected).

I share Gurn's distate for the crackling and creaky old recordings of yore - what interests me is what people are doing NOW.  I'll go off to sample Kopatchinskaya

[karlhenning]

Well, there are even great enthusiasts for Beethoven who find themselves ambivalent about the Opus 61.

[Antoine Marchand]

I share Gurn's distate for the crackling and creaky old recordings of yore - what interests me is what people are doing NOW.  I'll go off to sample Kopatchinskaya

I think similarly about old recordings, but principally for technical reasons (sound quality), not for artistic reasons.

"Behind every man now alive stand thirty ghosts, for that is the ratio by which the dead outnumber the living".
— Arthur C. Clarke (2001: A Space Odyssey)

[Gurn Blanston]

You have switched allegiances!

Q

No, I am still very partial to Zehetmair/Brüggen, but this is a really cool version that approaches from a different angle. I would never dump one for the other, I like having both.

[Gurn Blanston]

I think similarly about old recordings, but principally for technical reasons (sound quality), not for artistic reasons.

Both, Antoine, both. Plus it just feels more right to me to listen to and get into what's happening now, not what was happening before I was born (and man, I'm old too! ). 

[karlhenning]

No, I am still very partial to Zehetmair/Brüggen, but this is a really cool version that approaches from a different angle. I would never dump one for the other, I like having both.

Not a matter of switching allegiances, but of breadth of allegiance, eh, Gurn?

[Verena]

I have many recordings of this work and admire quite a few of them. Perhaps my absolute favorites are Grumiaux (with van Beinum or Davis), Zehetmair/Brüggen, and one that has not been mentioned so far, I think: Camilla Wicks and Bruno Walter on Music and Arts.

[Gurn Blanston]

Forgoing non-HIPsters (knowing your proclivities, similar to mine), you prefer to both Mullova/Gardiner and Zehetmair/Brüggen? 

Found this clip on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKOUIEpa6cA

and this explanation by Ms Kopatchinskaja: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7zl5lYAlb8&feature=related

Don't have Mullova/Gardiner, unfortunately. I do like her fiddling, and of course, am a big Gardiner fan. Nonetheless, I can only express satisfaction with Kopatchinskaja/Herreweghe. That link where she talks about the alternative lines that are never played was very interesting. Thanks!

[Gurn Blanston]

Not a matter of switching allegiances, but of breadth of allegiance, eh, Gurn?

Quite so, Karl. It isn't as though they are playing it identically, to where one has to make a choice between 2 difficult to discern varieties. They are quite different, and that can only be a good thing.

[karlhenning]

I think the only recording we have of the Opus 61 is Milstein/Pittsburgh/Steinberg.  I like it, and haven't felt the need to fetch others in. (Gurn's endorsement of the Kopatchinskaya/Herreweghe, though . . . .)

[Antoine Marchand]

Both, Antoine, both. Plus it just feels more right to me to listen to and get into what's happening now, not what was happening before I was born (and man, I'm old too! ). 

Nihil novum sub sole, dear Gurn. Plato, Cicero and Bach are our exact contemporaries. I am sure you feel that way when you listen to Haydn or Mozart. 

[kishnevi]

It might come down to what else is on the CD. 

I have seven:
Tetzlaff/Zinman
Pine/Serebrier
Jansen/Jarvi
Capucon/Nezet-Seguin
Mullova/Gardiner
Perlman/Guilini
Menuhin/Furtwangler

I don't have a particular favorite among them, although I'm inclined to rate the Mullova and the Pine ahead of the others.  but I like the Tetzlaff/Zinman because it's the only one of the seven that includes the Violin Romances.  The Pine/Serebrier is coupled with the world premiere recording of the Clement violin concerto (Clement being the soloists in the Beethoven concerto's first performance), and can be safely bought for that alone.  As already mentioned, Jansen uses the Britten concerto as the coupling.  Capucon uses the Korngold concerto.  The other three are coupled with the Mendelssohn. (In the case of Perlman, this coupling only applies to the latest reissue format.  The GROC reissue includes only the Beethoven, with no coupling.)  I think Mullova is better than Menuhin and Perlman in the Mendelssohn,  so perhaps my suggestion would be to go both with her and  with Pine.

[jlaurson]

No, I am still very partial to Zehetmair/Brüggen, but this is a really cool version that approaches from a different angle. I would never dump one for the other, I like having both.

I feel the same way. As a principle evangelist of the Zehetmair/Brüggen recording, I find this one to be absolutely recommendable a swell. There's not reason to be Beethoven-Violin-Concerto-monogamous... while at the same time having a favirote LvB-VC-'wife'.

[mjwal]

Well, I got that wrong - but the search function didn't work for me. I think I'm going to try the Zehetmair/Brüggen next, although it'll have to be very good to knock Haendel/Ancerl off their pedestal.

[DavidRoss]

The other three are coupled with the Mendelssohn.  I think Mullova is better than Menuhin and Perlman in the Mendelssohn,  so perhaps my suggestion would be to go both with her and  with Pine.

FWIW, the "classic" LvB/Mendy VC coupling is Heifetz/Munch, one I've not heard in quite some time and which your post reminded me is overdue!