Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Arturo Toscanini :: Beethoven, Brahms: Violin Concertos

During a career spanning six decades, Jascha Heifetz, surely one of the greatest violinists of all time, left a recorded legacy of an enormous repertoire, including solo pieces, sonatas, a lot of chamber music, and, of course, all the famous violin concertos--from Baroque to the 20th century--some in several versions made many years apart with different orchestras and conductors. In addition to RCA's complete, 65-CD collection, there are many reissues of parts of his discography; this is a singularly felicitous coupling. Of two versions of each concerto, these are the earlier ones. Both performances are breathtaking in their effortless virtuosity, pristine perfection, aristocratic nobility, and elegance. And, of course, there is Heifetz's incomparable tone. Pure, never sweet or lush, with a focused, intense vibrato and infinite variety of nuance and inflection, it has a warm glow on the lower strings and a glorious radiance in the upper register that truly resembles the voices of angels in its soaring ecstasy. He plays Auer's fiendishly difficult cadenzas with stunning bravura; they are justifiably overshadowed by Joachim's and Kreisler's and rarely heard. The record shows that even an artist of Heifetz's stature and personality depends on the accompanying forces for successful self-expression. In the Beethoven, Toscanini's famous penchant for brisk tempi and strict, unbending rhythm sometimes results in superficiality and severely limits the soloist's freedom and flexibility, but Heifetz's charm and elegance make the Finale effervescent. By contrast, the Brahms under Koussevitzky is expansive, intense, urgent, dramatic, warm, fiery, and very free; the slow movement is inward, leisurely, and ecstatic, the Finale exuberant. The performance should lay to rest the image of Heifetz as a cold, impersonal player, an impression originally created by his restrained appearance on stage. --Edith Eisler