Search - Tchaikovsky :: Tschaikowsky: Violin Concerto / Serenade Melancolique

A riveting account, one of the most original on disc

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 02/18/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Since originality is a quality I prize, I was immediately attracted to Gidon Kremer's only account of the Tchaikovsky concerto. Made in 1980, it was the first digital recording of the work, and there was every reason for DG to give the honor to the young Latvian/Russian virtuoso, then 33, who had swept like wildfire through the musical world. Nor does Kremer disappoint. His reading is unlike anyobody else's -- full of unique bowing, introvrted in the slow movement, never sentimental, austere enough to eschew beautiful sounds. If your ideal of the Tchaikovsky is scintillating virtuosity, seek out Heifetz and Reiner (RCA); for gorgeousness of tone there are any number of rivals (Perlman and Joshua Bell come to mind), and for Russian passion, there's Oistrakh and Viktoria Mullova (the latter's account on Philips is a great favorite of mine).



But no one else plays this music from bar to bar as if every note deeply matters, which is Kremer's great distinction. He never returned to the Tchaikovsky concrto, which implies indifference, but while he's playing it, one has no hint that this music is hackneyed or routine. Maazel supplies good support, although without real distinction; the Berliners play well, and DG's very early digital sound holds up surprisingly well."