Itzhak Perlman - Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto, Serenade Melancolique - VINYL LP

Vinyl LP pressing. Describing it as Incha journey that will last you for the rest of your lifeInch, Perlman emphasises that the Beethoven Violin Concerto is among the greatest of musical masterpieces. It's stature is reflected in this magnificent recording, conducted with nobility by Carlo Maria Giulini.

The distinctive character of each of Prokofiev's Violin Concertos seems rooted in it's genesis the first, nervy and iconoclastic, coincided with the Russian Revolution; the second, more sober and expansively lyrical, dates from 1935, when Prokofiev was preparing a permanent return to his native country. The two concertos were written nineteen years apart - a period that coincides almost completely with the years Prokofiev spent Inchin exileInch, first in the US and then in France. He composed No. 1 shortly before leaving Russia, and No. 2 just months before his return to the Soviet Union. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that the two works are so different from one another. Perlman chose to record these two concertos with Gennady Rozhdestvensky, whose experience in this repertoire he no doubt deemed second to none.

Perlman already had a recording of the Brahms Double Concerto to his name - on that occasion sharing the bill with Mstislav Rostropovich, conducted by Bernard Haitink (1979). He creates an equally sumptuous dialogue here with Yo-Yo Ma. The two performers match one another for brio and lyricism, their playing informed by the same sense of joyfulness, as their enthusiasm and generosity of spirit combine. Indeed, the coherence of sound, vibrato and intonation of these two soloists, each at the peak of his powers, reveals a fellowship both instrumental and spiritual. The vigour of the attacks and power of the phrasings, sustained by dazzling playing from the orchestra, add a rarely achieved Romantic dimension to this performance, transforming it into a veritable feast for the ears.