Search - Johannes Brahms, Eugene Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra :: Brahms: Violin Concerto

Terry M. (tmulcahy) from ALBUQUERQUE, NM
Reviewed on 9/12/2023...

Loved the cadenza in the 1st movement, despite what some critics have to say.

Stern and Ormandy in their glory days

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 11/11/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Given that Sony has repackaged it for twenty years in half a dozen guises, this Brahms concerto from Stern and Ormandy has probably circulated mroe widely in America than any toher (its chief rival being the classic Heifetz/Reiner recording on RCA). At their height in the Sixties Stern and Ormandy were publicized everywhere, including on national television, along with Bernstein, as cultural icons for a post-war generation coming to terms with classical music.



It could have turned out that they weren't as good as advertized, but in this case they ere. Stern's tone and phrasing are impeccable. Ormandy provides gorgeous, relaxed accompaniment. I won't go so far as to say that Stern's account is as dazzling as Kremer's, as inward as Menuhin's, or as commanding as Oistrakh's, Heifetz's and Mullova's. He's a bit faceless, and Ormandy doesn't rise to the heights of a Furtwangler, Bernstein, or Karajan. But on its own terms this straightforward, very "American" performance, which eschews all pretentiousness, delivers the goods."