Search - Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Barber Piano Concerto, Yoel Levi :: Violin Concerto Opus 14

Simply the best!!!

Joe Flute | Winter Park, FL | 08/06/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I believe that the Barber's violin concerto is one of the greatest piece ever composed in the 20th century. It is a piece which best describes the true essence of Samuel Barber's music. This performance by Robert McDuffie is the most brilliant rendition of the Violin Concerto I have ever heard!!! And I have heard many! McDuffie and the ASO does a wonderful job of depicting the many moods and emotions that lie within Barber's Violin Concerto. McDuffie's performance provokes an intense feeling of abstract nostalgia that few musician achieve with this piece. One of the highlights in this performance is the second movement. On top of being the greatest performance on the violin, the oboe soloist in the beginning of this movement produces the most georgous oboe solo I have ever heard in any recording of this piece. If any oboe solo can put a tear in my eye, this would be the one. Bravo to the principal oboist of the ASO and Robert McDuffie!!! An intense and emotional performance!!!"

Barber at his best

Joe Flute | 12/29/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Samuel Barber's only real representative in the concert repertory is his famous 'Adagio for Strings,' but I really feel that it is one of his weaker works. His magnifacent violin concerto is one of the most beautiful and expressive ever written, from the poignant sophistication of the first movement, to the moody Romanticism of the ravishingly gorgeous slow movement, right to the end of the percussive barn-burner of a finale.His ballet 'Souveneirs' is a comical satire on the era of silent movies and is a collection of popular dances, such as a waltz, tango, pas de deux, two step, etc. It is an attractively easy-going, somewhat jazzy work that just about anyone would like.The piano concerto is a very modernistic work, but Barber still doesn't stray to far from his romantic voice. Except in the ethereal middle movement, we are confronted with a restless violence that gives an unprepared listener little breathing room, but it is nonetheless a wholly accessible work."

A superb album: a great composer and wonderful performers!

Jeffrey A. Thompson | 06/23/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It is so hard to find good collections of only Barber's works. Happily, this is one of the best. Each listening brings the challenge of deciding which of the three works presented here is "the best." It is a battle each wins.Barber is a "modern" composer, but because of his background as a singer, a very tonal and fluid writer. Easily the inheritor from Ives as the best American composer of his times.Enjoy!"