COMPOSERS: Beethoven/Mendelssohn
LABELS: Decca Ovation
WORKS: Violin Concertos
PERFORMER: Kyung Wha Chung (violin); Vienna PO/Kondrashin (Beethoven); Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal/Dutoit (Mendelssohn)
CATALOGUE NO: 430 752-2 DDD (1979, 1981)
There is some ravishing violin playing on this disc, the recordings are excellent and the coupling is generous. Chung gives an exceptionally lyrical account of the Beethoven, with great beauty of sound, but she is undermined by Kondrashin’s uninspired direction of the VPO and the music never really takes flight. The Mendelssohn, in contrast, is wonderfully exciting. Chung is very fast in the closing Allegro molto vivace but the Montreal players keep up – just! David Michaels
Beethoven/Mendelssohn: Violin Concertos
There is some ravishing violin playing on this disc, the recordings are excellent and the coupling is generous. Chung gives an exceptionally lyrical account of the Beethoven, with great beauty of sound, but she is undermined by Kondrashin’s uninspired direction of the VPO and the music never really takes flight. The Mendelssohn, in contrast, is wonderfully exciting. Chung is very fast in the closing Allegro molto vivace but the Montreal players keep up – just! David Michaels
Our rating
2
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:36 pm