Another budget priced
recording from BMG (RCA) archives, presented
in a very attractive red and black ‘family’
colour scheme. This recording was made
by Perlman when he was under contract
to RCA in the days before he moved to
EMI. It will be obvious to any keen
collector of Perlman’s performances
that this disc was recorded before the
violinist got it into his head that
the only way to record a concerto was
with the soloist’s instrument close
up to the microphone, and the orchestra
located in another room. This is fine
if all you want to do is listen to the
soloist, but I am sure if composers’
had wished their works to sound like
this, then they wouldn’t have bothered
to create the orchestral parts of their
works in the first place.
Perlman’s virtuosity
in these highly complex, romantic masterpieces
is well known, and suffice to say he
delivers the goods immaculately here
as in many of his other recordings.
What we need to decide is whether the
package is sufficiently attractive to
make you want to go out and buy this
disc. Well, a lot will depend upon whether
you already have, or specifically want
this coupling, or whether you want it
as another recording to add to your
collection.
As an only disc in
a collection, there are indeed finer
performances to be had. In the Tchaikovsky
for instance there is Heifetz, also
on RCA, Kogan on EMI, and Vengerov on
Teldec to name just a few. Similarly,
one would have to go a long way to find
a finer performance than Oistrakh or
Mutter on BMG or EMI and DG respectively
for the Sibelius concerto.
As an alternative disc
in a collection, the present disc is
fine as the performances are first rate,
and the orchestral backdrop is focused
well, and recorded in a sympathetic
acoustic (presumably Symphony Hall in
Boston) and Leinsdorf is much more than
competent as an accompanist. The Boston
Symphony, although not as alive as when
they were playing for Charles Munch
or Pierre Monteux, are still the ensemble
that we love in this repertoire.
One of the features
I like about these recordings is the
relative absence of finger-board noise
on the violin. This is partly to do
with the not so close balancing of the
soloist, but Perlman has never suffered
this fault particularly seriously.
The Tchaikovsky concerto
has the usual cuts which were common
at the time of this recording, but this
should not trouble fans of this violinist
particularly, unless you are a completist
nut. The absence of the full score is
more than compensated for by the passion
of Perlman’s playing and the high quality
of both accompaniment and recording
quality.
The Sibelius Concerto
is particularly fine with a strongly
rhythmic flavour to it, particularly
in the finale, which is the only movement
on the disc where soloist makes a very
few ugly sounds, but in the excitement
these may be completely forgiven. The
Boston orchestra plays to the manner
born, and provides a superb backing
to their relatively young artist.
I can recommend this
issue with confidence.
John Phillips
Itzhak Perlman, (violin) 
