Isaac Stern Recordings
What Isaac Stern Recordings are outstanding and worth getting? What years was his sound really warm? I'm interested in buying some recordings of him for I have few now, but I'm not sure which one's are good or bad...
Replies (24)
There's a recording of the Bach Concerti (a m, E M, d m, oboe concerto) that's quite good.
The first violinist in the Bach Double is Perlman and the Oboist in the oboe concerto is Gomberg.
There's a recording of Beethoven's Kreutzer sonata. Can't remember what year it was, nor the pianist. It was probably in the beforementioned period.
His Bach is good. You should get his trio doing Beethoven's Archduke and Ghost trios. Finally, he did a recording of Hindemith, Bloch and Copland that is terrific with Copland playing the piano part for his violin/piano sonata. A real treasure.
Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, Mendelssohn Piano Trios, Shostakovich piano trio, Beethoven piano trios, Vieuxtemps Concerto no.4 and Kreisler/Paganini La Companella (both just came out, and both were made live in France, 1953), Brahms Sonatas, Brahms Violin Concerto, Duteliux Violin Concerto, Frank and Debussy Violin Sonatas, Sarasate Caprice Basque, Sarasate Ziunergenoweisen, Tchaikovsky Concerto, Bruch Concerto, Wieniawski Concerto no.2, Mozart concertos nos. 3,4, Bach concertos.
He recorded so much.
Definitely his
Wieniawski 2 (Ormandy)
Viotti 22 (Ormandy)
Mendelssohn (Ormandy)
Brahms Concerto (who else, Ormandy!)
Brahms Double concerto (Rose & Ormandy)
Brahms Sonatas (With Alexander Zakin - just about anything he does with Zakin is pretty good)
Mozart 4&5 (with Szell and Schneider)
Bach Concerti (the double with Perlman & Mehta, himself conducting #1, and I think Schneider conducting #2)
These are my favorites. He's one of my mom's favorites, so I've heard these since I was young (like four). It's weird, because now whenever I hear a major work from the above list, I'm always comparing it with Stern's recordings.
Anyway, Hope you find some good ones, and enjoy them as much as I do.
To sum up, it would be hard to find a Stern recording that was not very good, although for any particular piece there may be recordings that some would consider better. You almost cannot lose by choosing a Stern recording.
I like Stern more for chamber music, especially the schubert sonatas and trio stuff
No one's mentioned his playing of the Bruch. I recommend the recording I just got of the Bruch and Wieniawski 2.
sorry, Violin T, I see you did mention the Bruch.
His Schubert trios recorded with Rose and Istomin are meltingly beautiful. I so appreciate him in vignettes, specifically the Gluck/Kreisler Melodie, where his songfulness is utterly distinctive (similar only to the very young Elman), and in that specific regard stands out in comparison with all his (technically superior) peers including Kogan, Heifetz, Milstein and even Oistrakh. (I have a recording of 22 violinists playing that piece [Gluck Melodie]- from Kubelik to Josh Bell [who, by the way, sported a similar hair style] and Stern's version is unique.) Avoid his very late recordings such as his Kreisler CD with orchestra.
Where can I get that recording of La Campanella (assuming I'm ordering from America)? I must have it!
I just bought the Violin Encores CD with him (the white one with a cariacature of him on the front) his sound is to die for, I love his vibrato and the slides - it's distinctely Stern - can't miss him. :)
Hi,
These lists are great! I might add two recordings of Stern's that I really like. First, the Berstein Serenade (IMO an absolute must!). The also, the Barber concerto, which is really beautiful. There is also a live Dvorak with Mitropolous and NY Phil which great and fun to hear since it is a live performance.
Question to One and All: Is the Viotti (such a great performance) out on CD?
Cheers everyone!
I'm not a Stern fan. He got lazy about keeping up his techinque as he got older (It was never Milstien anyway). I think there are a lot more interesting people to hear. But if you want something, go with the recordings from the forties and fifties. The Sibelius with Beecham is pretty good, so is the Weiniawski 2. The stereo recordings are often sloppy, with ugly shifts and a ragged bow arm. For example, the Sibelius with Ormandy is much inferior to the Beecham one. I'm no big fan of the Oramndy Mendelssohn. It's OK, but the playing does not approach the best violinists. The one with Ozawa is not good. From the very first shift, it sounds sloppy. As you move into the 70s the recordings get harder to take. I remember a review of one of these where the critic began by saying somehtng like "Isaac Stern's technique is gradually turning to flab." That was probably the eighties.
Some of the chamber music recordings are worth a listen. I like the d minor Mendelssohn trio. Istomin is probably mlore intereting than Stern on that one. There are some Beethoven ones that are also good. Many people like his Mozart (I'm not one of them).
KG:
Being gifted with "stars" today, I look through the posts and really try to be responsible with that motivation. I have to admit I really debated (probably far more seriously than I need to) about putting an "x" on your post. I decided not to, but want to express why I was considering it.
Your characterization of "lazy" to justify your criticism of Stern seemed to go too far to me. You don't know whether he's lazy or not. In fact, all the work he's done for music promotion in the world would mitigate against that assumption.
Personally, Stern is not one of my favorite violinists either, and I think you have the right to express your opinion. I just think you did it in a non-constructive way (not to say that you are obligated to be constructive either, but it does help others understand where you are coming from). As I said before in another thread, anyone who got that far (and it is very difficult to do) deserves some respect.
It would be far more interesting to me to hear your opinion if you could analyze what you consider an "ugly" or "sloppy" technique and then maybe describe how that is done and why you don't prefer it in terms of technique or musicality. It is one thing to say that I think something is the wrong musical decision and why, or some technical sound is born from tension or a different technical approach than I choose to use, than to say it is ugly or sloppy playing. And "lazy" is definitely going too far.
Just food for thought.
Lisa
His performance of the Bell Telephone Hour DVD makes me think quite the contrary to him being sloppy...
People I know who knew Stern well told me that as he got older he spent little time practicing, did a lot of performing/recording without much preparation, and was more interested in the music business than the violin. I don't admire that. And I think it showed.
You're right, I didn't know him, but these people did -- and well. One of them used the word "lazy" to me. But if you can think of another word that describes what I am talking about, be my guest.
By the way, I believe that Stern himself was quoted as saying that others (not anyone in particular) played much better than he did. Yet there are some people who rate him among the 5 or so best violinsits of the 20th century. As you might guess, I don't agree.
"My First 79 Years" will give you some idea of Stern's approach to practice. He was quite certainly not the most dilligent in that respect. Tha man himself knew that he could've been better had he practised a little more. I quote him in the book lamenting, "Perhaps if I had stuck only to the fiddle, only to practising with the fingers, I might have been playing a little better, I might have accomplished a little more musically". So, as far as practice goes, I'm afraid K G is terribly correct. Stern the man saw himself far more than a pure violinist; he regarded himself as a contributor to music. Hence, he reasons that "I haven't lacked for public success. So I missed a few notes sometimes. Was that a really big deal?" To many, it was. So, there, a qualified perspective from Isaac Stern himself.
KG:
Somehow, I responded much better to that post than the one previously. It seems more accurate and fair to me. Just my opinion. I guess it is hard to avoid getting pompous with those "stars" in hand. My apologies. I understand your post better now.
And Keith: that was interesting, but I didn't find the word "lazy" in his description of himself. Sounds like he was just making other choices that were more important to him.
Lisa
It all depends on how one interprets 'lazy'. Liberally, I think K G's comments can be seen to be justified.
Nevertheless, though, I think it's safe to say that Stern did not devote his time sufficiently to practice. That fact is quite well-established, acknowledged even by the late man himself. I was simply attempting to establish Stern's personal perspective on the matter.
All I know is that many of his recordings are stunning so the idea of Stern practicing or not practicing is irrelevant in this case. I just want to know which recordings of him to purchase, and I know that he made many, and played beautifully...otherwise he wouldn't be famous...
get EVERY concerto stern recorded with ormandy...they will be your best recording most likely
Most of the recordings I have of Stern are first-rate technically, as were most of the concerts I saw him in. And I tried never to miss a concert of his if possible. It is true, however, that there are some recordings that sound a bit sloppier technically, and that also happened in the concerts. But I found that his musicality was so compelling that even when he didn't play at the top of his form technically, I still went away from the listening experience feeling enriched. The last concert I saw him in was in Tel Aviv in 1996, when occaisionally there was a certain scratchiness to his sound. But in the slow movement to Mozart's K454 sonata, you could have heard a pin drop in the auditorium. 3000 people sitting on the edge of their seats holding their breath. It was perhaps the most tremendously moving performance I have ever heard. I really came out of there feeling different, like I'd been on a journey or something.
Among my favorite recordings of his are the Brahms Violin Concerto with Ormandy (every time I put it on I find that I end up sitting down to listen in a concentrated fashion) and the Schubert sonatinas with Barenboim.
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December 29, 2004 at 06:01 AM · Probably at his peak from the late forties to late sixties. I have an excellent recording of the two Prokofiev Sonatas on Sony SMK 64 534.