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Masur and the Gewandhause Orchestra are much more successful in Maxim Vengerov’s version. Not one of the best recordings from this tremendously important violinist.
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The muffled recording doesn’t help either. The weak point here is the second movement, where the soloist adopts a sound so weak it lacks focus. The violinist plays wonderfully, but the general feeling is of chilled detachment. The tempos here are faster, and this is a more relaxed performance and collaboration, with a smaller sound by all parties. Mutter’s second version with Kurt Masur and the Gewandhause Orchestra (2008), was recorded and marketed for Mendelssohn centenary year. Still, it is one of the best performances from the early 1980s and may satisfy listeners who like their Mendelssohn Violin Concerto broad and a tad heavy, not to mention fans of Mutter, Karajan or the Berlin Philharmonic. The third movement is a little heavy and old-fashioned in a bad way, making it sound too serious. And the overly powerful brass of the Karajan era is present here in the climaxes. The slow movement is very reserved and mature, yet one wants a bit more sound from the violinist. In the first movement, for instance, the collaboration is tight, yet Mutter’s intense vibrato can be a bit much. It’s another one of the many superb collaborations of the two for the yellow label, but this Mendelssohn is not as impressive a performance as their Brahms or Beethoven concertos. Mendelssohn Violin Concerto – The Digital EraĮven taking into account Anne-Sophie Mutter’s charisma and talent, and there are plenty, this 1980 version is Karajan’s performance, who accompanies the soloist well with the Berlin Philharmonic on top form, but drags the tempos. In addition to the technological developments, a new style of playing Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto has emerged, playing with period instruments from Mendelssohn’s days, or incorporating smaller ensembles, more aligned with orchestras sizes the composer was familiar with. Some violinists re-recorded classical music pieces in a new, often improved audio quality (some of these re-recordings were mentioned in part 1 of this guide). The new “Compact Disc” format brought on a wave of new recordings of the entire classical music repertoire including, naturally, the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto. With the beginning of the 1980s, the recording industry saw the transition to digital technology, abandoning the bad audio transfers of the cassettes and slowly fading out vinyl production.
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Mendelssohn – Violin Concerto – The Best Recordings – Part One Part 2