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String Concertos 101
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	Vivaldi: The Four Seasons [Le Quattro Stagioni] Buy used from: $6.65 Light, airy, balanced, fresh, and expressive. Also consider the recording by Viktoria Mullova (and Claudio Abbado), and the recording with Isaac Stern, Pinchas Zukerman, Shlomo Mintz, Itzhak Perlman, and Zubin Mehta. The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra does a phenomenal job in this last recording, but do note that it is a live recording with applause at the end of each concerto.
	Bach - Orchestral Suites & Violin Concertos / Marriner Buy new: $17.98 / Used from: $5.30 This is probably the reference recording for Bach's 3 monumental violin concertos. Henryk Szeryng's tone is weighty, and his phrasing beautiful, continuous and expressive. Also consider Hilary Hahn's version if you like your Bach crisp and fast.
	Beethoven: Violin Concerto; Romances 1 & 2 Buy new: $16.98 / Used from: $4.00 If the slow tempi in the 1st movement bothers you, you may be better off with Itzhak Perlman (and Carlo Maria Giulini) or Jascha Heifetz (and Charles Munch). That being said, Maxim Vengerov and Mtislav Rostropovich dispatch this piece with poise, aplomb, and intensity. In addition, this is the only recording out of the bunch which is paired with Beethoven's Violin Romances No. 1 and 2
	Mozart: Violin Concertos Nos.3 & 5 Buy new: $14.99 / Used from: $0.89 This recording may not be as famous as Arthur Grumiaux's, David Oistrakh's, Annie-Sophie Mutter's, or Julia Fischer's (probably my personal favorite), but Itzhak Perlman is fully up to the job of performing these two favorite Mozart concertos.
	Mendelssohn, Dvorak: Violin Concertos Buy new: $7.98 / Used from: $1.98 Probably the reference recording for the Dvorak. (Akiko Suwanai's recording on Philips is also worth considering). Isaac Stern's Mendelssohn is slower than most other recordings out there, which I regard as a definite plus. Isaac Stern is expressive, intense, and alive as always.
	Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1; Scottish Fantasy Buy new: $11.98 / Used from: $31.41 Kyung Wha Chung's, Cho-Liang Lin, Jascha Heifetz's, and Akiko Suwanai's recordings of this coupling are also worth a look, but Arthur Grumiaux's is probably my favorite recording of them all: rich, poised, gutsy, and elegant.
	Joshua Bell ~ Sibelius · Goldmark - Violin Concertos / Los Angeles Philharmonic · Salonen by Jean Sibelius Buy new: $8.98 / Used from: $4.99 Hilary Hahn's Sibelius is arguably more focused and expressive, but I love the Goldmark concerto on this CD, and Joshua Bell's playing is always warm and smooth, as usual. For other good recordings of the Sibelius, see Cho-Liang Lin, Christian Ferras, and David Oistrakh (on Testament, with Sexten Ehrling).
	Elgar: Violin Concerto; Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending [Hybrid SACD] Buy new: $18.98 / Used from: $10.95 Iona Brown's reference recording of the Lark Ascending with Sir Neville Marriner and the ASMF is also absolutely wonderful, perhaps a little less assured in intonation, but delightfully more rhapsodic than 'concertatonic.'
	Brahms, Tchaikovsky: Violin Concertos in D Buy new: $3.98 / Used from: $9.01 Got to have the Tchaikovsky in this list somewhere, right? Nathan Milstein's [later] recording with Claudio Abbado and the VPO may be more of the reference recording for the Tchaikovsky, but this earlier budget recording with has a wonderfully warm sound that is hard to beat.
	Brahms: Violin Concerto; Mozart: Sinfonia Buy new: $6.98 / Used from: $2.97 THE reference recording for the Brahms violin concerto. David Oistrakh is stunning here...just stunning. The Mozart he does here with his son Igor is also about as good as the Brandis/Cappone/Bohm recording on Deutsche Grammaphon, but perhaps a little bit more Romantic and a little less Classical.
	Dvorák: Cello Concerto; Tchaikovsky / Karajan, Rostropovich, Buy new: $10.99 / Used from: $4.69 Mtislav Rostropovich's legendary recording with Herbert von Karajan and the BPO. Warm...expressive...magnanimous. Rostropovich also has a highly acclaimed version with Seijo Ozawa and the BPO on Erato. That recording is perhaps more tightly conducted, but I prefer the warmer sound on this older Deutsche Grammaphon recording.
	Elgar: Cello Concerto; "Enigma" Variations Buy new: $7.98 / Used from: $7.63 Jacqueline du Pre will always own the Elgar concerto. Enough said.
	Great Recordings Of The Century - Beethoven: Triple Concerto; Brahms: Double Concerto / Oistrakh, Rostropovich, Richter by David Oistrakh Buy new: $11.98 / Used from: $5.69 My favorite recording of the Brahms double concerto. Jascha Heifetz and Gregor Piatigorsky also have a very fast and very exciting version on RCA Victor. I personally am not very familiar with Beethoven's triple concerto.