Search - Mischa Elman, Zara Nelsova :: Violin & Cello Concertos

Unless you hate the romantics, get this CD.

Alan M. Silbergeld | Baltimore, MD United States | 08/27/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Mischa Elman was an unabashed romantic. His violinistic style is said to have been eclipsed by the technical wizardry of Heifetz. But the appeal to the heart of his playing will never be eclipsed. He offers here excellent and moving accounts of the 2nd Concerti of Max Bruch and Henryk Wieniawski. (C'mon, Amazon, hire somebody with musical knowledge to input titles and product information, instead of leaving us guessing at which Bruch and which Wieniawski after using a magnifying glass on the picture of the CD jacket.) While, as is sometimes noted about recordings of Elman in his later years, he is not always technically accurate, and while he may ad lib and scoop into notes, these faults don't really detract from the overall impression he conveys of the composers' works. The wave of gorgeous violin sound and the expressive phrasings are what make this artist. Close your eyes and enjoy this.



Zara Nelsova was a less romantic and more technically correct artist, but she conveys no less feeling. Her accounts of the Lalo and Saint-Saens Cello Concerti (SaintSaens No. 1) are among the finest. Yes, you may find the Lalo annoying, but that is the composer's fault. Much of the first movement consists of lyrical cello playing, punctuated by sudden fortissimo chords from the orchestra (scare the heck out of your kids or grand kids by playing this for them). But there is plenty there to admire and appreciate. The Saint-Saens, of course, is one of the mainstays of the cello literature, and Nelsova's performance of it is up the with the best, a model for any young musician to emulate.



As one might expect, Sir Adrian Boult;s conducting of the London Phil. is outstanding in every way, even to being faithful to Lalo's annoying chords."