Brilliant Classics
has given us some valuable historic
material – not much, but some – amongst
which their Gilels set has probably
taken pride of place up to now. But
here comes an Oistrakh box of concertos
that stakes out a high place for collectors’
enthusiasm. All the items under discussion
are leased from Gostelradiofund and
I’ve tried to disentangle the known,
the previously limited releases, the
previously unreleased and the bolt from
the blue (Miaskovsky). For ease of reading,
rather than a Joycean stream of consciousness,
here are a few thoughts.
Mendelssohn
From 1949 with Kondrashin
and a famous 78 set, much reissued.
Originally on Melodiya D017327/33 and
other 78 issues it’s seen service on
a raft of budget LP labels such as Colosseum,
Delta, Everest, Gala, Murray Hill, Tap
and Vox. The violin is characteristically
forward, the tuttis don’t register with
ideal weight and there’s a bloated sound
perspective, gaudy and not especially
attractive; terrible side join at 4.19
(was this taken from an LP transfer?).
The performance is very espressivo and
romanticised, hugely affectionate, sometimes
heavily so with real yearning intensity
in the slow movement. In the finale
Oistrakh constantly changes tone colour,
bow pressure and vibrato usage to stunning
effect though it’s sometimes a tad relentless.
The recording can turn his tone a touch
brittle and there’s another bad side
join just after the pizzicati in the
finale.
Dvořák
Sensibly coupled with
the 1949 Mendelssohn because this was
recorded a month earlier with the same
conductor and orchestra. Less widely
distributed than the Mendelssohn but
you may have caught it rummaging
in boxes and bins on La Chant du Monde,
Colosseum,
Eurodisc, Musidisc, Vanguard et al.
Originally issued by Melodiya on D03064/65.
Clear if rather clinical sound, abundant
lyricism; not as febrile as Haendel,
not as tightly coiled as Příhoda,
with more overt expression than Suk,
his is a famous interpretation.
Fine series of diminuendi in the slow
movement; sufficient orchestral detail
to catch the ear, with the violin once
more heavily spotlit. Astounding display
of tonal and timbral contrasts between
the upper and lower strings in the finale.
Shostakovich 1
Leningrad/Mravinsky,
1956. Once more a famed commercial disc,
first issued on Melodiya D5540/1, D03658/9
and D033449/52. Reissued on labels ranging
alphabetically from Bruno to Telefunken
– to take in Period and Parlophone.
His live Czech performance of the following
year was faster and tighter but this
recording of the work is an astounding
contribution to recorded music and one
that renders specifics unnecessary.
It’s obviously not to be confused with
the New York/Mitropoulos recording of
the same year on Columbia. Though other
examples of his way with the work have
appeared, not least those with his son
Maxim, this and the Mitropoulos are
the reference recordings. Only demerits
- the intense focus on the solo instrument
at the expense of orchestral detail,
occasional distortion and a touch of
overload in the finale
Shostakovich 2
From 1968, a live performance
once released on Melodiya C10-17502
– not the same performance as the 1968
Svetlanov live recording that came out
on Intaglio CD. Nor the same year’s
Moscow/Kondrashin live performance that
was also issued on Melodiya and licensed
to Eurodisc, HMV, Melodiya-Angel in
America et al. This Rozhdestvensky-led
performance came from the same concert
that gave us the Tchaikovsky, also in
this set, which was a 60th
birthday concert. The performance is
in good sound for its late sixties vintage
and is searingly powerful; the violin/trombone
exchanges are remarkable.
Lalo
From 1947. Again a
much re-released disc, first on D015565/72.
"Usual Suspects" label re-issues
such as Delta, Design, Hall of Fame,
as well as Supraphon and Vox. Poor recording,
blowsy and scuffy and lacking definition.
Oistrakh characterful and emotive, Kondrashin
powerful and outsize. Oistrakh is right
under the mike allowing extreme pianissimos
in the first movement; the Intermezzo
is thankfully intact and is full of
lissom expression and deft colour. The
Andante sounds rather like Tchaikovsky
here; superlative bowing in the finale.
Bruch Scottish Fantasy
The only previously
known Oistrakh recording of this work,
to me, was the LSO/Horenstein 1962 on
Decca. This is from two years earlier
once more with Rozhdestvensky. Pliancy
and delicacy inform the solo playing
– no Heifetz finger position changes
to heighten tension. Inward, introspective
but well projected. The orchestra sounds
rather spread in the perspective. Some
untidiness in the second movement –
brusque conducting as well and not a
patch on Masur’s for Accardo, with balance
crudities that may be the recording’s
fault as much as the conductor’s. Occasionally
Oistrakh’s intonation wanders, a few
coughs; a touch crude taken as a whole,
well though Oistrakh plays.
Beethoven
Terra very cognita
of course but not this performance of
the concerto dating from 1962. The Cluytens
is the reference recording, the 1950
Gauk is in limbo, the live Abendroth
seems to have gone, the commercial Melodiya
Abendroth likewise. There was a Gui
from 1960 on Fonit-Cetra. Here in Moscow
the orchestra is adequate but no more.
Rozhdestvensky over-emphatic, the sound
unflatteringly shrill on occasion. Some
quick solo portamenti in the slow movement
with increasing vibrato intensity after
4.30. Very short linking passage to
the finale. Conductor once again blustery
and unhelpful.
Kabalevsky
This predates the commercial
recording conducted by the composer
(USSR State, 1955 – D17231/6, D489 etc).
Marked by superb pizzicati, luscious
contours, sleazy trumpets, a delightfully
pirouetting Andantino and in the finale
some of the fastest bowing in the East
(outside Kogan). If it has to be done,
let this be the way.
Taneyev
You’ll probably have
the Malko, if you have it at all. There’s
a Kondrashin – USSR State – on Bruno,
which is undated. This Brilliant is
from 1960 with Sanderling, same orchestra;
I’ve not heard the Bruno and am assuming
they’ve not been misidentified. Rather
treble dampened this, dry and airless.
Oistrakh reaches a peak of impassioned
power at the end of the Prelude as we
move from baroque gestures to more impressionist
colours. Elegance personified in the
Variations, beefy when necessary (beef
was an Oistrakh speciality) superb in
the Fairy Tale. For reasons of recording
quality not to be preferred to the Philharmonia/Malko
(Malko an old colleague, for whom Oistrakh
had led an orchestra in Miaskovsky’s
symphonic works in the 1920s).
Prokofiev 1
I always associate
him more with No.2 but this is quite
wrong discographically. Multiple examples
of No 1 on record – Kondrashin on 78s,
Golovanov likewise (where’s that
been hiding?), Strasbourg/Bour, the
famous von Matacic 1965 HMV, Termirkanov
1970, a Sanderling from the following
year, rumours (unfounded so far) of
a Prokofiev conducted traversal – that
was the claim on Period SPL 739 anyway.
Here with Kondrashin in ’63 he’s commanding;
fine orchestral control by Kondrashin;
undaunted technique from the soloist,
ringing pizzicati, lyricism and drama
balanced, one wolf note intrudes, wonderful
legato in the finale, balletic warmth,
superb trills, Kondrashin’s marshalling
of lower brass top notch.
Tchaikovsky
There was Gauk, Kondrashin
(twice) and Samosud – never come across
that last one, with the Bolshoi on Vox,
Murray Hill and Joker. Kempe ’59 preceded
the famous Ormandy of 1960, though you
will have come across the Konwitschny/Saxon
in a cheapo box – maybe the Heliodor.
This is the 27th September 1968 Rozhdestvensky
conducted traversal. It was recorded
live and there are a few "noises
off." Oistrakh takes a good tempo
for the first movement, not especially
quick it must be said, quite patrician;
good pirouetting lines and a well despatched
cadenza, one note apart, with stout
trumpets accompanying. Sensitively phrased
slow movement, very lyric phraseology.
Rather feminine sounding moments in
the finale, quite exciting albeit with
blustery conducting. Comparison with
the Melodiya transfer in their big Oistrakh
CD box favours the Russian disc – clearer
at a higher level; simple test, you
can hear the orchestral chairs scraping
far more in the Melodiya than in the
Brilliant transfer.
Sibelius
Another speciality
concerto. A Gauk led performance
is out of circulation, the Ehrling is
the famous recording, though the Ormandy
was certainly respectable, a Finnish
Radio go-through with Fougstedt is on
Ondine CD, and frequent collaborator
Rozhdestvensky chips in with a widely
publicised 1965 commercial disc on Melodiya
C01077/8, leased to Ariola-Eurodisc,
Mobile Fidelity, Musical Heritage, Vox
and others besides. This Brilliant dates
from 1966 and is full of weighty articulation.
Not Oistrakh’s very best playing but
still commanding, with the conductor
for once earning his keep – intense
head of steam from Rozhdestvensky. Big
hearted slow movement, obtrusive whistled
note, passionate commitment. Being live
there are some coughs and a few executant
slips in the finale. On balance the
contours of this performance are almost
identical with his Finnish broadcast
of over a decade earlier, though the
1965 broadcast sported a much slower
second movement.
Bartók 1
The Bartók concertos
make infrequent appearances in the official
discography. There’s a ’62 No.1, again
with Rozhdestvensky, released on C0661
and licensed to Urania, Period, Le Chant
du Monde and others and picked up by
Forlane but otherwise little (it’s a
different matter with the First Sonata)
– no No.2. This is a strong, sinewy
and powerfully contoured reading, with
compelling brass interjections and a
steady stream of lyric infusion from
the soloist – real shades of colour
and nobility.
Szymanowski 1
A Warsaw performance
of No.1 has surfaced with Stryja but
otherwise the Leningrad/Sanderling of
1959 has been the staple – D05180/1
with releases in the West on labels
such as Forlane and Urania. Brilliant
states their performance is a State
Symphony/Sanderling of 20th
September 1960. The recording is a bit
blatant; orchestra sounds distant, some
luscious Oistrakh moments but not enough
orchestral detail and whilst he plays
with exquisite panache at the top end
of his register the whole performance
can sound a shade unconvincing architecturally.
Hindemith
The LSO/Hindemith disc
of September 1962 was made three months
before this live taping with Rozhdestvensky.
Though there seems to be a conflict
of dates – an alternative source lists
August 1962 – this seems to be the same
live performance that Melodiya released
on C0662 and that was picked up subsequently
by Le Chant du Monde, Eurodisc and the
same usual labels – but also by Victor
(JVC). Considerable delicacy here and
intimate playing between the more stentorian
passagework. Firm chording, committed
orchestral playing, cracking intonation
pretty much all the way through, very
bold brassy accompaniment.
Glazunov
This is the commercial
1947 Kondrashin – I don’t know of any
other survival. This had a wide
distribution after the initial Melodiya
D03040/7. Also reissued on Praga CD
but Brilliant sounds better – more immediate
and clearer; note a slight pitch discrepancy
between the two as well. The reading
is warm and affectionate, not searingly
brilliant – very expressive Andante,
delicacy in the winds, first class cadenza,
tremolandi splendid, pervasive feeling
of quiet melancholy. Slightly congested
recording but not damaging.
Chausson and Ravel
Very forward sound
in the Chausson, his commercial undertaking
in 1948 with Kondrashin, which has a
full plethora of evocative sounds. The
Ravel is commendably brisk in the old
manner, back in the days when musicians
knew how to play Ravel’s chamber works.
No phrase breaks; craft and commitment
and his only recording of it, much reissued
(sample Monitor and Westminster for
starters).
Stravinsky
We know the Lamoureux/Haitink
Philips of 1963 but there’s also a later
Berlin Symphony/Sanderling Melodiya
M10-46420. The Brilliant team have uncovered
a Kondrashin-Moscow reading that was
taped in the same year as the Haitink,
the decade in which Oistrakh turned
to this work. He catches the gutty wit
of it, with good, if rather recessed
orchestral detail, and big tone in the
first aria – demonstrating his adaptability;
good shadowing wind figures marshalled
by Kondrashin, with a strong and weighty
Capriccio finale.
Miaskovsky
From 1939 and a claimed
date of 1st January. This must be a
misprint for 10th, the date
of the premiere, which makes this something
of a startling coup. Oistrakh was the
dedicatee and had a hand in the writing
of elements of the concerto. The recording
is not good; violin very forwardly placed
with a mushy and sometimes distorted
orchestral backdrop. Side breaks as
well – at 6.11 with half a second gap.
Oistrakh highlights some phrases more
freely and expressively than he did
in his later commercial recording. The
concert performance is predictably tighter
than the disc –soloist reaches zenith
of lyricism in first movement, though
gorgeously sweet toned in Adagio. Interesting
to hear the identical tempo in the finale
up to about 2.50 where we find the trill
episode goads Oistrakh to a much faster
live tempo. It will be a trial for the
generalist to listen to this – to the
admirer it is a wonderful artefact,
notwithstanding the problems.
Conclusions
All these performances
are from Russian sources, either commercial
or off-air. They’re all, in a sense,
supplementary to primary recommendations
– the Lalo for instance is superb but
it was supplanted by the 1954 Martinon,
the Shostakovich 1 by the Mitropoulos
and so on. But the value of the box
lies in its breadth and bulk, in its
capturing, unearthing or re-issuing
of some of the most consistently memorable
violin playing of the twentieth century
in repertoire entirely congenial to
Oistrakh. There’s one outstanding rarity
– the apparent first performance of
the Miaskovsky. What we need now is
for someone to dig up examples of his
Moscow cycles of the History of the
Violin concerts – which included
both the Elgar and Walton concertos
amongst much else. Whatever the sonic
limitations of this box may sometimes
be, the chance to own, to compare and
to contrast multiple recordings by this
artist is an unmissable one, and rendered
even more so by the budget price range.
What are you waiting for?
Jonathan Woolf
