- Reviews
- Questions
United StatesKhachaturian Violin Concerto - Kogan, violin - Monteux Boston Symphony
kogan is the most amazing!
United KingdomKhachturian VC with Kogan
Kogan was a genius. Nothing more to say, except that the remastering is lovely.
United StatesLeonid Kogan in Boston - A very welcome re-release
The main attraction on this release is outstanding Russian/Soviet fiddler Leonid Kogan - surely at or near the top of his generation? - and the Boston SO under Pierre Monteux. A listener may legitimately suspect that this golden age stereo recording helped bring Khachaturian to the West. Soloists, conductor and orchestra make up something of a musical trifecta, so the repeat release of this reading is quite welcome to any of us who likes Khachaturian. My own first introduction was via Henryk Szeryng, Antal Dorati, and the LSO; however this version gives everybody a fine alternative. Kogan plays naturally without having to soup up the Slavic-Eastern folk-like melodies; the conductor Pierre Monteux leads Boston with authority, conviction and more elegance that matches Kogan's nuanced singing tone. The fillers include Chausson's Poeme and a Mozart Rondo - not bad mind you, but with USSR State SO playing with musical heft if not quite the sheen and polish of Boston. This listener hears just the merest touch of Slavic feel or inflection in the Poeme under Kogan's reach, perhaps reminding us that the influence of the French Court was quite strong in Mother Russia long before Chausson penned his music. (Example? Tchaikovsky discovered the celeste in Paris, wrote his Sugar Plum Fairy music into the Nutcracker, and tried very hard to keep everything secret until his ballet could be premiered with the enchanting new instrument as well as much else.) While the Mozart Rondo is a nice third bit, it likely was written as a try out conclusion for one of the violin concertos that the composer wrote while still the young prodigy who intuitively grasped fiddle writing with an elegance that charmed Paris. Bravo, and Thanks !
United StatesWow ! Thanks! Another prime audio reading from the past`
This is so welcome. I've long cherished many of the (now older) recordings of Leonid Kogan. He surely was on of the great fiddlers of his time, with his exposure hampered perhaps by Cold War Era walls, tensions and authoritarianism from his home country. The Khachaturian concerto was a USA outing, however, in Boston led by Pierre Monteux. The fiddling is stellar. The players are excellent, joining Kogan in a somewhat more elegant, nuanced reading. Remastered stereo sound is so vivid the music fairly flies off the headphones or home rig speakers, depending. The USSR readings are very good too, once one adjust to the fact that this band is not the BSO under Monteux. I continue to be amazed at how HDTT finds and then makes available such treasures, most of the time in the best sound we have ever heard from the archives. Thanks again.
Description:
Title: Khachaturian Violin Concerto
Chausson Poème, for Violin & Orchestra
Mozart Adagio for Violin & Orchestra in E Major K261
Artist(s): Violin – Leonid Kogan
Khachaturian: Conductor – Pierre Monteux
Orchestra – Boston Symphony Orchestra
Chausson: USSR State Symphony Orchestra
Conductor - Pavel Kogan
Mozart: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor - Pavel Kogan
Recording Info: Khachaturian Recorded by RCA 1958
Chausson & Mozart recorded by Meloydia
Khachaturian Violin Concerto
1 Allegro Con Fermezza 13:18
2 Andante Sostenuto 12:00
3 Allegro Vivace 9:14
4 Chausson Poème, for Violin & Orchestra 15:11
5 Mozart Adagio for Violin & Orchestra in E MAjor K261 6:57
 |
|
