Hindemith: Violin Concerto David Oistrakh (vln) London Sumphony Orchestra / Paul Hindemith Decca Enterprise cd
Wow! It leaps from the heaphone ear pieces with such vitality it could almost have been recorded yesterday. With David Oistrakh playing you can't go wrong here. A tremendous performance of this fine,melodic and rewarding violin concerto. You start thinking,it should be more popular! I really enjoyed this! :)
I was never a great fan of Hindemith apart from the Symphonic Metamorphosis on themes by Carl Maria von Weber until I heard somebody (I can't remember who at this distance of time -- it must have nigh-on fifty years ago) play the Violin Concerto in the Festival Hall (I think it was) and I was bowled over by it. I agree with you that it's a fine piece. I have a few recordings of it but not Oistrakh, sadly. Of those I have, my favourite is André Gertler with the Czech Philharmonic under Karel Ancerl on Supraphon. A bonus is that it's coupled with Paul Tortelier playing Hondemith's Cello Concerto, which I don't enjoy quite as much as the fiddle concerto but it's still worth hearing. I can only imagine whast Oistrakh does with it!
I like Hindemith! Listening to this concerto did,however,make me think that this is the a work that might appeal to someone who might not like his other output so much. It seems to speak from the heart more than some of his other pieces. There's passion there. I can imagine my late mother or grandmother enjoying this on the radio. My mother didn't collect Lp's (or cd's) but she always liked classical music (and some popular) and she'd have a radio in the kitchen or upstairs,when she was doing embroidery or sewing! The Symphonic Metamorphosis followed the Violin Concerto & I only just realised that Morton Gould seems to have pinched some of the brassy flourishes (a subconscious crib,coincidence or maybe purposely?) for his third symphony,which I have on an Albany cd! Nothing wrong with quoting other composers,of course! I was merely surprised! It's one of Hindemith's most approachable & tuneful works,however.
Yes, after that experience with the Violin Concerto I went on to investigate his music further. As a result, I'm now a fan, especially of the Mathis der Maler Symphony, Nobilissima Visione (of which I have great recording conducted by Joseph Keilberth) Konzertmusik for Strings and Brass op 50 'Bostoner Sinfonie' and lots of the Kammermusik and various sonatas. Great stuff, all of it. Who knows, one of these days I might even try Mathis der Maler the opera, and not just the Symphony!
