Great Recordings Of The Century - Beethoven: Triple Concerto; Brahms: Double Concerto / Oistrakh, Rostropovich, Richter

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Among the concertos of Beethoven and Brahms, these two have always been stepchildren. One reason is their extreme difficulty; both composers were pianists, so Beethoven wrote an idiomatic part only for the piano. Brahms's friend Joseph Joachim offered advice for the violin concerto, but not for the Double Concerto, which was written as a peace offering after a falling-out. The Beethoven Triple Concerto demands utmost virtuosity, as well as intimate teamwork among the soloists, and that is exactly what these three supreme masters of their instruments bring to it. Free--indeed unaware--of technical problems, they give it a joyful, sparkling lightness. The piano ripples, the cello sings gorgeously, the violin soars ecstatically, the tone is intoxicatingly beautiful. The Finale is wistful, charming, lyrical, gently humorous; the ending is a big joke, with the cello and piano rumbling in the bass, while the violin whistles forlornly in the dark until they all join together. The Brahms is grand, majestic, dreamy, radiant, triumphant; the slow movement warm as dark velvet, the Finale genial and relaxed. Though the orchestra never covers the soloists, it explodes in the tutti passages, especially in the Beethoven, so you might keep a finger on the volume control. --Edith Eisler

Great Recordings Of The Century - Beethoven: Triple Concerto; Brahms: Double Concerto / Oistrakh, Rostropovich, Richter, Music, Mstislav Rostropovich, Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, George Szell, Herbert von Karajan, Berliner Philharmoniker, Cleveland Orchestra, Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter, David Oistrakh, David Oistrakh, Mstislav Rostropovich, Sviatoslav Richter, Herbert von Karajan, George Szell, Cello Concerto, Classical, Classical Composers, Classical Music, Concerto, Concerto for Two Solo Instruments, Orchestral & Symphonic
Great Recordings Of The Century - Beethoven: Triple Concerto; Brahms: Double Concerto / Oistrakh, Rostropovich, Richter
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • There can't be any better!
  • Wonderful smooth rendition
  • Beethoven: Triple Concerto; Brahms: Double Concerto / Oistrakh, Rostropovich, Richter
  • Beethoven? Brahms? Karajan? Oistrakh? Richter? Rostropovich? Szell? On One CD? Talk About Star Power!
  • Glorious
 Great Recordings Of The Century - Beethoven: Triple Concerto; Brahms: Double Concerto / Oistrakh, Rostropovich, Richter
David Oistrakh , Mstislav Rostropovich , Sviatoslav Richter , Herbert von Karajan , and George Szell
Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

All Works by BeethovenAll Works by Beethoven | Beethoven, Ludwig van | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
All Works by BrahmsAll Works by Brahms | Brahms, Johannes | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
ConcertinosConcertinos | Concertos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Concertos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
General ModernGeneral Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
CelloCello | Strings | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music
Cleveland OrchestraCleveland Orchestra | ( C ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
Oistrakh, DavidOistrakh, David | ( O ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
Similar Items:
  1. Great Recordings Of The Century - Brahms: Violin Sonatas nos 1 - 3 / Perlman, Ashkenazy
  2. Dvorák: Cello Concerto; Tchaikovsky / Karajan, Rostropovich,
  3. Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No1, Op107; Violin Concerto No1 (revised), Op99
  4. Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto Op35; Brahms: Violin Concerto in D Op77
  5. Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem [A German Requiem]

ASIN: B00000I7VO
Release Date: 1999-03-09

Tracks:

  1. Triple Concerto For Violin, Cello & Piano In C, Op. 56: I Allegro
  2. Triple Concerto For Violin, Cello & Piano In C, Op. 56: II Largo
  3. Triple Concerto For Violin, Cello & Piano In C, Op. 56: III Rondo alla polacca
  4. Double Concerto For Violin & Cello In A Minor, Op. 102: I Allegro
  5. Double Concerto For Violin & Cello In A Minor, Op. 102: II Andante
  6. Double Concerto For Violin & Cello In A Minor, Op. 102: III Vivace non troppo

Amazon.com

Among the concertos of Beethoven and Brahms, these two have always been stepchildren. One reason is their extreme difficulty; both composers were pianists, so Beethoven wrote an idiomatic part only for the piano. Brahms's friend Joseph Joachim offered advice for the violin concerto, but not for the Double Concerto, which was written as a peace offering after a falling-out. The Beethoven Triple Concerto demands utmost virtuosity, as well as intimate teamwork among the soloists, and that is exactly what these three supreme masters of their instruments bring to it. Free--indeed unaware--of technical problems, they give it a joyful, sparkling lightness. The piano ripples, the cello sings gorgeously, the violin soars ecstatically, the tone is intoxicatingly beautiful. The Finale is wistful, charming, lyrical, gently humorous; the ending is a big joke, with the cello and piano rumbling in the bass, while the violin whistles forlornly in the dark until they all join together. The Brahms is grand, majestic, dreamy, radiant, triumphant; the slow movement warm as dark velvet, the Finale genial and relaxed. Though the orchestra never covers the soloists, it explodes in the tutti passages, especially in the Beethoven, so you might keep a finger on the volume control. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars There can't be any better!.......2007-05-17

It is not for the names only.
I think it is a performance as Beethoven probably had in mind.

5 out of 5 stars Wonderful smooth rendition.......2007-04-26

There is something magical about this recording. It is difficult to describe the smooth full sound that this recording presents. I own other recordings of the Brahms and the Beethoven and at first thought it a little extravagent to own another but I am very pleased I bought it.

5 out of 5 stars Beethoven: Triple Concerto; Brahms: Double Concerto / Oistrakh, Rostropovich, Richter.......2007-01-18

I knew this recording and I received what I was expecting. Delivery and condition was great. Thanks.

5 out of 5 stars Beethoven? Brahms? Karajan? Oistrakh? Richter? Rostropovich? Szell? On One CD? Talk About Star Power!.......2006-09-09

All those big names wouldn't mean a thing if the performances themselves were throw aways or showed little commitment, but that's hardly the case, this is probably the finest recordings of both works. Karajan and Richter for one had some rocky interpretative relations in their recording of Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto on DG. That was not a great record, where both musical giants pull and push to try and get their way. So yes, in some ways this Beethoven Triple Concerto presents even more challenges because there are four minds, four egos pitted together in one piece of music and that's not counting the greatest ego, Beethoven himself! Luckily everyone melds beautifully together, the three Russian masters are at their best, with Rostropovich a stand out and shining brightly. Meanwhile Karajan, the Austrian master conductor gives them his usual, grand, lush orchestral backdrop via the Berlin Philharmonic. This is warm-hearted, generous music-making between four fearsomely talented musicians.

The Brahms Double Concerto is just as fine, now we have the two string instrumentalists side by side. Oistrakh and Rostropovich communicate wonderfully together in this major Brahms piece. Szell backs them up every step of the way with his precise yet passionate conducting of the Cleveland Orchestra. The EMI recording sounds very good too in both works and the price is quite nice. An outstanding bargain.

5 out of 5 stars Glorious.......2006-01-30

The unbroken tradition of Russian string playing is well-represented on this disc. The Double Concerto is especially wonderful, even rapturous. The two players are beautifully meshed, and Szell and the Cleveland sound warm and emotive, which they sometimes did not, on records and "live". The sessions they recorded for EMI (including a wonderful Dvorak Eighth, far surpassing their recoridng for Masterworks), captured something that often was not well projected.

The remastering captures this warmth, with more brightness than my LP copy of the Brahms ever had, at least after the initial playings.

Music Review:

  1. Gurdjieff, Tsabropoulos: Chants, Hymns and Dances
  2. Henryk Gorecki: Symphony 3 "Sorrowful Songs"
  3. Hildegard von Bingen: Canticles of Ecstasy
  4. Hold Me to This: Christopher O'Riley Plays Radiohead
  5. La Luna
  6. Lamento
  7. Lauridsen: Lux Aeterna, etc. / Salamunovich, Los Angeles Master Chorale
  8. Les Enfants Terribles
  9. Lorraine Hunt Lieberson: Handel Arias [Hybrid SACD] [SACD]
  10. Mozart: Violin Concertos

Music Review

music review

Music Review

Lump

Chants from the Holy Land: Armenian Chant

Beethoven: Missa solemnis; Symphony No. 5; Symphony No. 6

Times Have Changed

Daikan [CD-single] [Live]

Collection

Carnaval Habanero

Cyber Messiah

Bravery Repetition & Noise [Import]

Byrdmaniax

For the Record

Brand New Era [Limited Edition] [Import]

Burn Som'n [Explicit Lyrics]

Top 10 Southern Gospel Songs '97

Complete Recordings: Donald Byrd Sextet with Yusef Lateef & Barry Harris