Search - Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Franz Joseph Haydn :: The Early Concerto Recordings, Vol. 1

Classic Concerto Collections

Michael B. Richman | Portland, Maine USA | 06/17/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Both Volumes "The Early Concerto Recordings" from the Isaac Stern Collection are absolutely brilliant. If these recordings were released today by Sony there would be two concertos per disc, they would come in some lavish original jacket packaging, and cost a small fortune. As is (they were released by CBS in 1990), they are packaged as two three-CD sets at a mid-line price. Granted the product is without a lot of bells and whistles, though Stern's anecdotes in the liner notes about the recordings are insightful and enjoyable, but who needs added fluff when the music is this good.The concertos, recorded in the mid-to-late 1940s and early-to-mid 1950s, are either in high quality mono or early golden age stereo. On Volume One the recording dates are as follows: Bach 1956, Vivaldi 1955, Haydn 1947, Mozart 1950, Brahms 1951, Brahms Double 1954, Tchaikovsky 1949, Mendelssohn 1950, and Ravel 1957. (Please note that a few of these very same performances appear in the "Isaac Stern-A Life in Music" series.) Though Stern later re-recorded many of these concertos, it is delightful to hear these earlier versions when he was still establishing himself as one of the world's great violinists. Those looking for a definitive disc of a given concerto may want to start with titles in his "A Life in Music" series, but for Stern-lovers out there (like me), these discs are pure gold."