Search - Max Bruch, Zubin Mehta, Itzhak Perlman :: Itzhak Perlman - Bruch: Scottish Fantasy & Violin Concerto No 02

A Fine Scottish

Daniel | California | 08/07/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I?ve recently bought or heard two other recordings of the Scottish Fantasy and they both had severe deficiencies: the first was rushed, and the second had a poor orchestra playing. This recording, finally, is acceptable, and quite good really. This piece must be played slowly enough to let you daydream a little bit, and to daydream you don?t want to be hearing strange phrasings on so on: the music must flow like brook, or a soft breeze. Perlman plays it very straight, but very well. The thing about Bruch I?ve found, as a violin player, is that his music requires a lot of emotion, which translates into energy. The best recording I?ve ever heard was by David Oistrachk. On the Perlman recording here, the one deficiency is that the orchestra is not given enough volume in some key parts of the mix. The orchestra plays very well, but they sound a little thin, and for the Scottish Fantasy, I prefer a thick 1940s MGM orchestra sound. This is romantic music! Schmaltz it up, I say. This music is something that rich old ladies in Pasadena listen to on their vintage Victrolas, maybe while pruning roses outside the livingroom window. It brings a tear to the eye, you know? This is a good recording, but Oistrachk plays it better."

Violin concerto #2 by Max Bruch

Santa Fe Listener | 04/01/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I heard this being played on our clasical FM station. It was so moving and beautiful that I called the station before it ended and wrote down the name of the CD...and oredered it immediately. A must have!"

The romance of the Highlands hauntingly captured

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 06/06/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In Queen Victoria's time there was a sentimental craze for all tings Scottish, and Bruch's haunting Scottish Fantasy is the perfect embodiment of it, second only to Sir Walter Scott's novels. But even now, because of the lovely folksongs that Bruch set, this musical evocation of the Highlands can bring a tear. That's what Perlman and Mehta try to do, and I was happy to go along with their sweet, soulful rendition.



Heifetz has always been the gold standard in the Scottish Fantasy, but he sounds aloof and steely by comparison. Even Kyung Wha-Chung's notable account on Decca doesn't come close, because Perlman spins a lyric line and silvery tone that pulls the listener in emotionally more than I've ever heard before. EMI's up-close sound is also very appealing.







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