Good Grief. Another Tchaikovsky already.

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Tchaikovsky's violin concerto in D Major is the tool that many classical music lovers use to evaluate violinists. If he or she does the Tchiakovsky to your liking you will probably like recordings by the same artist of other less familiar pieces. Over the years I have acquired a number of recordings. My favorite is Russian David Oistrach, recorded in 1954...mono, but good mono. His absolute mastery and power is inspiring so that his occasional technical defects are of no consequence. A Korean woman, Kyung Wha Chung plays in similar style with fewer errors on a stereo recording. Close but not quite there. Itzhak Perlman, in his youth, gave it a good shot.

But now I have found a new recording that is poles apart from Oistrach, but which I find striking. I recommend Sony Classical SH 94822, a SACD, Joshua Bell, with the Berlin Philharmonic, Michael Tilson Thomas conducting. This was recorded barely a year ago, and benefits from excellent recording technology. But it is the performance, recorded during a concert, that makes it worth buying this disc no matter how many other Tchaikovskys you have filed away. The interpretation is lyrical, which is dangerous because it could come out like mush, but Bell pulls it off to perfection. The lyrical approach is definitely not a cover for technical weakness, as is sometimes the case. IMHO, his performance provides new insights which, for an old warhorse like the Tchaikovsky is hard to do.

Others may not like the interpretation, but it sure is different, and well worth a listen.
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