 | Sibelius/Tchaikovsky: Violinkonzerte
Buy new: $16.98 / Used from: $7.96 Tchaikovsky-Shaham. Epitome of the Romanic era. A challenge for the best violinists. Easiest to listen to.
Also: Heifetz, Milstein, Oistrakh.
|
 | Brahms: Violin Concerto
Buy used from: $0.88 Brahms-Perlman. The most challenging violin concerto. Grand and epic feeling, combined with pathos of the slower melodies. Perlman's is the definitive recording.
Also: Mutter, Milstein.
|
 | Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn: Violin Concertos
Buy used from: $12.40 Mendelssohn-Chung. Impossible for me to pick the best or even my favorite Mendelssohn. Chung's is probably the most passionate, thus fitting with the first mvt: Allegro molto appassionato.
Also: Hahn, Shaham, Milstein, Perlman.
|
 | Hilary Hahn ~ Beethoven - Violin Concerto · Bernstein - Serenade by Ludwig van Beethoven
Buy new: $9.99 / Used from: $4.90 Beethoven-Hahn. Probably the hardest concerto to play well. Shows a beautiful and simple tone of the violin.
Also: Perlman, Mutter.
|
 | The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto
Buy used from: $53.99 Butterfly Lovers - Yu Li-Na. The most romantic and tonal concerto, a good representative of Chinese music.
|
 | Dmitri Shostakovich: Violin Concerto, Op. 99; Cello Concerto, Op. 107
Buy new: $8.99 / Used from: $6.96 Shostakovich-Oistrakh. A very personal work for Shostakovich. Runs the gamut of emotions, especially anguish. This was written for Oistrakh, and he's perfect for it.
Also: Hahn, Mullova, Vengerov.
|
 | Prokofiev, Shostakovich: Violin Concertos no 1 / Rostropovich, Vengerov
Buy new: $16.99 / Used from: $5.81 Prokofiev No. 1-Vengerov. This concerto shows a lot of different things, from the most tonal to the most frenetic. Vengerov is by far the best interpretation.
Also: Milstein, Oistrakh.
|
 | Sibelius, Prokofiev, Glazunov: Violin Concertos
Buy new: $8.99 / Used from: $3.82 Sibelius-Heifetz. Heifetz made it popular.
Also: Vengerov, Perlman.
|
 | Barber: Concerto for violin Op14; Korngold: Much Ado about Nothing Op11
Buy new: $16.98 / Used from: $3.00 Barber-Shaham. The most lyrical of all violin concertos. Third movement is always fun to listen to. Shaham has the best tone for this concerto.
Also: Hahn, Salerno-Sonnenberg.
|
 | Mendelssohn, Bruch: Violin Concertos
Buy new: $16.98 / Used from: $9.42 Bruch No. 1-Shaham. A traditional German Romantic-era violin concerto. Last movement is a joy.
Also: Perlman, Mutter.
|
 | Dvorak: Concerto in A Minor, Goldmark: Concerto in A Minor
Buy used from: $16.85 Milstein-Dvorak. Reprsentative of Dvorak's symphonies, a mix of slavic melodies interwoven together.
Also: Suk.
|
 | Heifetz Showpieces
Buy new: $7.99 / Used from: $4.49 Lalo-Heifetz. This album fits perfectly. Symphonie Espagnole is a gaudy showpiece, Heifetz is the consummate man to deliver one. For some reason, he skips the Intermezzo movement.
Also: Perlman.
|
 | Itzhak Perlman - Bruch: Scottish Fantasy & Violin Concerto No 02 by Max Bruch
Buy new: $14.99 / Used from: $5.94 Bruch Scottish Fantasy-Perlman. Gorgeous, albeit slightly programmatic. Requires a booming singing voice, and Perlman is exactly that.
Also: Heifetz.
|
 | Prokofiev: Violin Concertos 1 & 2; Sonata for Solo Violin
Buy new: $16.98 / Used from: $4.24 Prokofiev No. 2-Shaham. First and third movements are dark, while second movement is light and lyrical.
Also: Mullova, Heifetz.
|
 | Sir Edward Elgar: Violin Concerto in B minor, Op. 61 - Nigel Kennedy / London Philharmonic Orchestra / Vernon Handley
Buy new: $10.98 / Used from: $3.49 Elgar-Kennedy. Like his cello concerto, Elgar's violin concerto is deeply personal and even biographical. Kennedy, the best British violinist, gives a very personal and emotional performance.
Also: Young Menuhin, Old Kennedy, Hahn.
|
 | Bach: Solo & Double Violin Concertos /Manze * Podger * AAM * Manze by Johann Sebastian Bach
Buy new: $9.98 / Used from: $5.15 Bach No. 1-Manze. A very simple concerto, but shows the best of Bach's counterpoint. Manze plays with a very distinct baroque sound and style.
Also: Wallfisch.
|
 | Mozart: Violin Concertos 3 & 5 / Mutter, Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Buy new: $11.98 / Used from: $5.49 Mozart 3-Mutter. The most popular Mozart violin concerto. Every amateur violinist probably played this at some point. Mutter's interpretation is very clean.
Also: Menuhin.
|
 | Vivaldi: The Four Seasons/Fritz Kreisler: Concerto for Violin by Maureen Gallagher
Buy new: $17.98 / Used from: $2.74 Vivaldi-Shaham. The most well known. Shaham's performance is surprisingly fresh and intense.
Also: Loveday (Academy of St-Martin-in-the-Fields).
|
 | Shchedrin: Concerto Cantabile / Stravinsky: Violin Concerto in D / Tchaikovsky: Serenade melancholique, Op. 26
Buy used from: $5.10 Stravinsky-Vengerov. Opposite of Mozart. Atonal, and needs to be very unclean. Vengerov is perfect for this.
Also: Hahn.
|
 | Paganini: Violin Concerto No. 1; Sarasate: Carmen Fantasy
Buy used from: $7.82 Paganini-Perlman. A requisite in the violin literature, it is a difficult showoff piece. Perlman has impeccable mechanics, esp. for third movement.
Also: Shaham, Accardo.
|
 | Paganini: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No.1/Saint-Saëns: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No.3
Buy new: $16.98 / Used from: $4.23 Saint-Saens 3-Shaham. A fun, lyrical and romantic piece. Doesn't really stand out, but solid. You may get caught humming the second movment over and over again.
Also: Cho-Liang Lin.
|
 | Khachaturian: Violin Concerto
Buy used from: $4.08 Khachaturian-Perlman. An intense piece. It's a push between Perlman or Oistrakh, but Perlman is better with the rubato.
Also: Oistrakh, Kogan.
|
 | Bartók: Violin Concerto No. 2; Rhapsodies Nos. 1 & 2
Buy new: $16.98 / Used from: $5.44 Bartok 2-Shaham. A very modern and atonal work. Might challenge Brahms as the most challenging concerto to learn.
Also: Menuhin, Mullova.
|
 | The Art Of Itzhak Perlman
Buy new: $39.49 / Used from: $18.88 Wieniawski 1-Perlman. A grand and romantic piece. By the way, it's worth it to buy this this box set.
Also: Shaham.
|
 | David Oistrakh Plays Dvorák, Glazounov, Kabalevsky
Buy new: $14.99 / Used from: $63.76 Kabalevsky-Oistrakh. For some reason I think the last movement sounds like a circus act.
Also: Shaham.
|
Listmania!
