It is Istvan Kertesz.
I have several interpretations of this concerto. This one is one of my favourites. I believe it’s worth a listen 
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I have Heifetz, Oistrakh, Francescatti, Grumiaux, and Mintz. I listen mostly to Grumiaux. The Mintz is a new acquisition as part of a box set. Haven’t listened to it yet.
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to keep the thread alive … but also because it’s a totally wonderful work and recording. Seek this one out if you like impressionistic, large orchestral works perfectly recorded in a fine acoustic. Bridge was Benjamin Britten’s teacher and this disc shows why Britten, a fine judge even in his tender years, thought so highly of him.
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Try this one for a compare/contrast:
It is one of the most chilling and emotional performances I have ever heard. You have to find the liner notes, too, or at least an article about it.
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Bridge’s “The Sea” is a wonderful piece that invokes vivid images.
I first encountered it on a BBC TV documentary with Vernon Handley and the Ulster Orchestra.
Their recording of the work is coupled with other sea themed works by British composers.
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I actually have both of those (Bruch and Mendelssohn Violin Concertos) on SACD (the Living Stereo series). They were repackaged on separate discs.
I have a ‘pirate’ CD live recording of Carlos Kleiber conducting ‘Das Lied Von Der Erde’ with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra from 1967, some years before he achieved international fame with his initial DGG recordings. Soloists are, if memory serves, Christa Ludwig and Waldemar Kmennt. The off-air recorded sound is dreadful but, if you listen through the frying eggs sound, the performance is startling.
I’m not aware of CK ever conducting any other Mahler, but can only imagine what might have emerged if he had been persuaded to conduct Mahler’s Ninth with the Wiener Philharmoniker.
Yes, a Kleiber-conducted Mahler symphony would have been sublime!
Whoa, there! CK only conducted a handful of Beethoven symphonies, so a complete Mahler symphony cycle would be an extreme wish. As I said, a Kleiber-led Mahler Ninth would have been extraordinary but more than that would be a wish too far.
I think the 2nd would be my choice, but of course it’s all just wishes!
Sadly, far too few C Kleiber recordings. I guess the intensity and care he devoted to performances demanded too much of his players and for him too much mental strain. He found it unsustainable. He was also far too sensitive to the comments of ignorant critics who failed to understand and appreciate what he achieved. Sadly we are all left wishing for more!
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Yes, Kleiber certainly demanded so much of himself, and in the end that was more than he could sustain.
Orchestral players loved him, from all accounts I have read. He was, after all, the Berlin Philharmonic’s first choice to succeed von Karajan. But, in true C Kleiber fashion, he declined the offer (so the post went to Kleiber’s friend Claudio Abbado). What a tragic shame - Kleiber at the helm of the Berlin Philharmonic would have been unmatched for all time! (And who else would ever have turned down what is probably the most prestigious post in classical music?)
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Any fans of his father? I see that Decca released a new box set last year.
If you mean Erich Kleiber, then yes, I’m a huge admirer.
I will look for the Decca box that you mention.
Incidentally, isn’t it sad to see how far Decca have fallen recently. They had wonderful artists, and released great recordings 50/60/70 years ago, but they seem rather irrelevant today.
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Don’t you think that’s true for all the major labels? 98% of their releases are repackaged recordings of the good old days.
Maybe not DG.
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I think that classical music and jazz recordings used to have a much broader audience. So, it made financial sense to make lots of great classical and jazz recordings. Today, the audience is smaller, the recording costs are likely higher, the great works have all been recorded a thousand times, and much new “classical” music in particular is formulaic and abstract garbage that scholars talk endlessly about but no one else really likes.
Ergo, fewer great recordings.
Yes, those are broad generalizations, but I think there is a lot of truth in each. Happy to argue politely, of course!!
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I also think that something happened after the 70s or so. It seems like the older artists too big risks. Sometimes that led to a disaster, but when the risks paid off, you ended up with bold interpretations, aggressive and committed performances and lots of performing “in the moment”.
Today, the conservatory crowd is so academic and homogenized, and it seems like a lot of performance practice has fossilized and become bland and self-preserving. Less boldness and individuality.
Also just my humble opinion, but where are the Glenn Goulds, Franco Corellis, Maria Callases or Leonard Bernsteins today? Their rough edges and brilliant idiosyncrasies would get smoothed out before they made it out of college!
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