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Sibelius Recordings

CD reviews: Can anyone tell me in their opinion, who made the best recording of the Sibelius concerto and why.

From Scott Taylor
Posted May 19, 2004 at 12:18 AM

I think the best one is Heifetz with his amazing sound, followed by Sikovetsky, with his excellent tone and colors.

perlmans is worth checking out too.

Heifez is great, but I like Oistrakh more in this concerto. Oistrakh is, as usual, dominant in the second movement, as his colors and controll of sound are incredible. I also like his first movement better, because to me, he has a lot more color in his sound the Heifez, and he is a master at phrasing in large symphonic structures.

It is a pity that Kogan never recorded the work, though apparently he demonstrated it to his students.

I have 5 CDs of Sitkovetsky, including a great live recording of the Shostakovitch, but can't get hold of the Sibelius.

I think this was recorded live at the Queen Elizabeth competition in the early 50s?!

By the way, what works do you have that are played by Sitkovetsky?

http://www.deutschegrammophon.com/gringolts-sibelius

if you are interested, here is the microsite. The record will be out in the States next month.
http://www.deutschegrammophon.com/special/?ID=gringolts-sibelius

I can hardly wait for the new Ilya Gringolts recording to be released!! :D

The 5 Julian Sitkovetsky CD's I own were put out by SYD records, a company that may not exist any more, with the cooperation of the Sitkovetsky family (including Dmitri). My wife (who is from Moscow) brought them to me from there three years ago.

Volume 1 contains Bach Partita No. 2, Mozart Sonata 26, Tartini's Devil's Trill Sonata and Paganini's La Campanella, transcribed for piano accompaniment (stunning!)

CD 2: Vieuxtemps sonata in D Major, Wieniawski Etude Caprice and Polonaise Brilliante No 1, Saint Seans Concerto 1 & Etude in Forme De Valse (stunning!!), Ysaye sonata 6, Sarasate's Malaguena & Habanera and Moskoswski's Guitarre (lovely!)

Vol 3: Glazounov concerto, Lyapunov concerto and Lehman concerto.

Vol 4: Paganini Concerto No 2, Le Streghe, Moses Fantasia, Moto Perpetuo, Lipinski Caprice, Ernst's Last Rose of Summer and Bazzini's Ronde de Lutins (very good!).

Vol 5: First release live recordings (1956) of the Shostakovitch (stunning!) and the Khachaturian.

Now you made me sad...

But of course there are many I like, all for different reasons: Kavakos, Heifetz, Oistrakh, Shaham, Mullova, Gitlis, Neveu, Sikovetsky, etc. I listen to and enjoy all of them.

The Oistrakh video is also wonderful, from the Archival Treasures VHS (sadly out of print)

Yep, violin is an expensive hobby alright.

*Leonidas Kavakos' recordings of the original Sibelius and the revised is a must-have. His interpretation is also very natural, yet I prefer Mutter's because it has more emotional intensity. Kavakos' icier style is very captivating in general, but he doesn't exhibit the ferocity Mutter does with her double-stops, vibrato and harmonics. He also has an effortless stroke that allows the music to shine through.

Leila Josefowicz's and Itzhak Perlman's third movements are also worth listening to--very exciting and virtuosic. I have yet to hear Ruggiero Ricci's which I just bought this past weekend.

be well,paka, jorgen

today the kavakos original sibelius recording was dropped off at my house by a fedex truck!

i have to say, i like the 2nd movement (the music) much better. The other mvts were just very different and with no doubt beautiful. Kavakos's interpretation wasn't my favorite, but i would imagine this concert would be played differently than the final version. He takes some parts rediculously slow and i don't believe the message is conveyed...but hes great non the less.

the best 14 bucks ive spent in a while

However, my favorite is Ann-Sophie Mutter's recording with (her now husband) André Previn. The recording is lush, passionate, and conducted as only Previn can. Mutter's sound is big, meaty, and almost rustic; her 'del Gesù' is her perfect match. One can hear the sensitivity to Sibelius' frustrated efforts at violinistic virtuosity in each phrase. For me, it's tough to make it through it without brinking on tears.

Eric

Carl.

And, by the way, I listened to Ruggiero Ricci's recording of the Sibelius. It definitely had its moments, particularly in the first and third movements. For example, he added a longer-than-normal pause right after the orchestra crashes for the intro to the cadenza (before the g-minor chord I believe). It felt so right in its surprising drama! Also, his ascending double stops after the high F# in the third movement were dead-on superior--almost to the detriment of the F#'s glory! I so truly loathe any Sibelius recording (and there are many) where the violinist thinks it is okay to play catch up with the double stops, or retake the bow etc. Bad taste! Although Ricci's set is not the best, he sure put some fire into the score!

cheers and be well!

jorgen

Has anybody listened to Gil Shaham's? That I think is also excellent.

Carl.

Heifetz's first recording of the work was hailed as the definitive version in his own lifetime. A good place to start. There are many other excellent recordings. I personally also like Cho-Liang Lin's recording and I would recommend the DVD with Christian Ferras which has a superb second movement. If you like live recordings and want to hear Heifetz live, there is a recording from the late 40's with Mitropoulos and NY Phil out there which is really great and a little different than his studio versions (especially the second movement with the less intense more juicy vibrato).

Cheers!

Three stars, with additional special quality: Cho-liang Lin

Three stars: Chung, Heifetz(with Chicago), Sarah Chang, Mullova, Perlman, Stern, Little, Kennedy, Repin, Neveu, Kang, Verhey, Mutter, Sitkovetsky, and Oistrakh. There are many good recordings.

R Herrera, Wps, Bristol UK

Recently I listened to Leonidas Kavakos and I was blown away. In terms of cleanliness and clarity, it is absolutely superb. However, what really blew me away was the tone which he achieved: absolutely pure through its entirety. Besides all of that, he also is definitely not a technical slouch. You can hear about every note in the entire piece. The original version is also very interesting to hear. I actually think that the original version sounds more difficult, but I think Sibelius made the correct revisions in the end to really make the piece work best.

I was not aware that Oistrakh had recorded the Sibelius, I will have to check out that recording because he is without a doubt my favorite violinist that I have ever heard. Also, I really respect Gidon Kremer's playing and interpretations and I would love to hear his version of the piece.

George

Carl.

I doubt it was all that easy to get high quality strings in the Soviet Union.

Carl.

I seem to recall having discussion with Robert last year, in which we were discussing the use of stars to flag "right" and "wrong" posts. I recall Robert explaining that in the violin world there was too often no such things as "right" and "wrong". But I guess in the case of Heifetz and v.com, if you are pro-Heifetz you are deemed "right" and if you are not a Heifetz fan you are deemed "wrong". Maybe this should be flagged to prospective members when they join the site. I sorta feel nowadays that I am not part of a democratically run website but more a "loyal" subject in a cyberspace monarchy moderated by knights at the round table wielding stars as swords. You moderators are so awesome!!!!!!

My sincerest apologies that this post has nothing whatsoever to do with the topic at hand, but the question has been brewing in my mind for quite some time. And now that it has come to light here, perhaps it would be appropriate for a civilized thread on what could be done to improve the moderation system? I think most of us agree it might need a bit of tweaking.

Just a thought. :)

As for who played the better Sibelius, I respect Jascha Heifetz's version, but absolutely love David Oistrakh's.

I wasn't going to respond to this, but, I mean really, just give it a rest. Let the man rest in peace. So there are a lot of violinists that admire Heifetz. Big deal! Look, the guy was a great player. If his peers looked up to him, what is the matter with members of this site doing the same?

Incidentally, I also like his Sibelius, but my favourite recording of Sibelius with Heifetz is actually his live performance with New York Phil under Mitropoulos. Just a great performance that I appreciate more than his studio recordings. There are many other recordings that also appeal to me: Oistrakh live is great. Cho-Liang Lin also has a great recording to my taste as well, and I also like Nigel Kennedy early recording too.

But really, if Kreisler, Spalding, Szeryng, Oistrakh, Stern, and Perlman had no problems looking up to Heifetz, who are we to not respect him or the admiration that some may have for him? Granted that I agree wholeheartedly with you that people who give a star to a post because if praises Heifetz is just plain stupid, but what does sarcasm accomplish? I think that even Mr. Heifetz would like us to appreciate him for what he was: a great violinist and committed musician.

I am sorry, but I find this so childish and immature, and with both camps. Sorry, but I have had my fill with all this nonsense on this site. Please let the man rest in peace.

I don't even feel like adding my usual...

and harry potter and britney rock as mascots. u know very well that was directed at me. if u have a problem with me, why dont u email and tell me. id love to discuss with you.

ps....u have wayyyyy too much time on ur hands. instead of writing 4 page responses on violinist.com, u should go practice. maybe then u can be great like heifetz.

ciao

However:

Many of the things I said were barely exaggeration. I quote a recent post:

"No disrespect to Ehnes, but if Heifetz was the Empire State Building, Ehnes would be the molecular speck of dust on the sidewalk. Not that that's bad. Most people haven't even gotten to particle size."

Second, it has to be admitted that virtually every time someone uses a superlative about another violinist, someone feels they have to post "heifetz was better". And you think I'm immature?

If Erika's above post was not a personal attack, what is? And yet she gets a star for it? Perhaps my 'charter' was less of a joke than you care to admit. And a post from Erika, telling me I don't have a life or a sense of humour? Erika, tell me what's it's like to be so funny.

Nate, remind me: do posts like "Heifetz was better" count as "intellectual discussion"?

I do respect Heifetz. I've said this before. Heifetz was indeed a great violinist. Do I think he was the greatest? No, not really. That's personal taste. There's not really such a thing in my mind. If many people on this site do, then fair enough - your choice, your opinion. But I ask that you respect other people's opinions as well. Heifetz certainly isn't everyone's favourite violinist, so don't ridicule them if they hold that view.

Christian,
I've said this before as well. I have never heard any great violinist like Oistrakh, Perlman, Szeryng etc. carry on about Heifetz like some people on this site do. Maybe they do look up to Heifetz. What does it prove? It's far from objective. Last year in Grammophone magazine, a poll of professional violinists found that Oistrakh was the number one! And what do other musicians say? I have noticed that this kind of Heifetz admiration is less apparent outside the world of violinists, perhaps because they think purely in terms of music, where Heifetz certainly had his equals, and (dare I say it) perhaps superiors.

So forgive me for a wry joke about something which I perceive to be very real on this site.

Carl.

Erika: hmmm... a little too much, maybe?

Carl: I understand your points. Personally, there are a lot of violinists who I admire, not just Heifetz. But I still look up to him as a unique phenomenon. And, I have learnt much from watching him play.

By saying that things were immature, I was not pointing directly at you, but at both sides of the camp. In general, I find the bickering to be nonsensical. And yes, people do pass stupid comments. Regardless of individual opinions, Carl, even if Heifetz's peers did not rave on about him, I really do believe that they must of had a reason to call him the best violinist alive in his time, no? And when they all do, how does that not count as being "objective?"

If people want to admire Heifetz, best to let them do it. You can continue to prefer other violinists (and I can continue to admire most of great violinists in general, including Jascha Heifetz). However, trying to stop people would be like trying to ask a wall to walk.

My overall point though, is to let Jascha Heifetz rest in peace. I notice that there is always this constant fighting over Heifetz in particular on this site which I don't understand; not at all. Let him be what he was: a great violinist.

Cheers, OK

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