Oistrakh and the Salzburg Kid

 

How do you like your Mozart?

If you don't mind supping merrily of the fatted calf, this recording will do just fine.

David Oistrakh is a Soviet violinist well known for recordings of music from The Homeland, as well as the monuments of the classic violin repertoire.

Here we get the latter in Mozart's first three violin concertos. Compared to today, Oistrakh employs a similar tone and approach he would use in Brahms - a rich, singing tone with plenty of vibrato.

I am against a neutered Mozart sound, so I enjoy Oistrakh's approach, which is meaty and full of deep feelings. There is no reason Mozart's music needs to be handled with a velvet glove, nor with a such a delicacy as if to keep from breaking it. Strike it harder, take your time, or love it, but don't make Mozart faceless.

Add to that the presence of the Berlin Philharmonic from 1971, and you have a quite beautiful sounding Mozart. Berlin is a larger ensemble than we are used to today, yet there remains grace and charm all the same, which remains an important ingredient in Mozart.

Mozart's two earliest concertos aren't the most inspired as a whole, yet they have a delightful tunefulness and genial attitude which carries them along just fine. Since Oistrakh doesn't underplay these works, one will never become bored with them.

Violin Concerto no. 3 shows a large leap forward from Violin Concertos 1 & 2. Stronger developed structures, and more complex interactions between soloist and orchestra are immediately apparent. I hate to say it, but No. 3 puts the first two in the musical swamp comparatively.

As a bonus, Mozart's Rondo in C Major is included. Despite the short runtime, its later Köchel number offers a maturity to the program, and the main tune is a winner.

No one will confuse Oistrakh's cadenzas as 18th Century creations, but they are a lot of fun. Since the Berlin Philharmonic goes conductorless here, these are rather straight-forward readings orchestrally, where I could imagine a little more nuance and gesture, but this is pure nitpickery on my part.

These were recorded at the Zehlendorfer Gemeindehaus in Berlin, not the Philharmonie or the Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Berlin's normal haunts. I only bring this up because the acoustic is rather dry, especially for the soloist. I don't know if this was a specific recording issue, since the Berlin Philharmonic avoids the problem, but eventually the ears adjust. The space around the violinist changes during the cadenzas too; a rather odd sonic artifact.

Why EMI never made a 2-for-1 of David Oistrakh's Mozart complete Violin Concertos, who knows. These early ones are not as completely satisfying of works as the final three, but having Oistrakh at the helm gives them their best shot for this listener.

If looking for a more refined approach, but in a generally similar approach, most would point to Arthur Grumiaux with Sir Colin Davis and the London Symphony Orchestra on Philips as the next best thing. I am fine with these on EMI, plus the artwork The Musical Contest from Jean-Honoré Fragonard is splattered everywhere on this recording.

 

Listen on YouTube

 

 

 

Works
Violin Concerto 1 in B-flat Major, K. 207 (22.23)
Violin Concerto 2 in D Major, K. 211 (20.45)
Violin Concerto 3 in G Major, K. 216 (25.08)
Rondo in C Major, K. 373 (6.12)

Soloists
David Oistrakh, violin

Performers
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

Label: EMI
Year: 1972; 2001
Total Timing: 75.44

 

 

 

 

I love David Oistrakh's way with Mozart; full sounding and imbued with feeling.

Add to that the Berlin Philharmonic from the early 70s and you have a recipe made for success.

The dry sonics and early Mozart concertos deprive this recording of full marks from this listener, yet I have never felt the need to let this recording go, which should be telling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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