Bartók: (44) Duos for Two Violins

Advantages: Mutter's eloquence and sensitivity in older recording are enhanced here.
Disadvantages: None at all!

...As a fantastically talented eighteen-year-old, Anne-Sophie Mutter already awed me with her sensitive and thoughtful eloquence in her 1981 recording of the Brahms violin concerto (with Herbert von Karajan directing the Berlin Philharmonic). However, there’s an even deeper understanding in Mutter’s reading of the Brahms piece on this newer disc. This performance was taped live at the Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, New York City, in 1997. Kurt Masur conducts the New York Philharmonic in particularly inspired fashion. A difference of fifteen years separates the two recordings. In the time between, she married, had children, and then was widowed at a very young age. When Mutter returned to her instrument, she would bring a greater strength, emotional depth and insight to her playing, lending a maturity and assuredness to her... Read review

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Advantages: Thrilling, daredevil chamber music performances from the legendary Martha Argerich and partner-in-crime Gidon Kremer.
Disadvantages: Violinist Kremer occasionally on the mannered, spastic side; only forty-three minutes of music.

...-Sophie Mutter-Lambert Orkis version, purely out of convenience, as I had the latter disc already in my library. I thought that hearing two distinct renditions of the same works would help limn the qualities of each. Although Beethoven wrote the pieces for piano and violin, either instrument may take precedence or be equal in the partnership, a choice that depends wholly upon the performers. A Word or Two About the Artists. Martha Argerich has long thrilled me with her high-octane, edgy performances. On the other hand, readings by Gidon Kremer are familiar to me only through his chamber music collaborations with Argerich. Meanwhile, I have also waxed rhapsodic elsewhere about German violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and think she’s one of today’s foremost instrumentalists. However, of American pianist Lambert Orkis, I know nothing outside... Read review

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Advantages: Romantic orchestral music
Disadvantages: Only 1 hour - eat quickly for a romantic dinner

...Johann Sebastian Bach, giant among Baroque composers, was a prolific writer whose versatility and creativity resulted in a wealth of musical works with a diversity ranging from sacred choral works, keyboard music to orchestra music. The CD, Concerto for Two Violins in D minor / Violin Concertos in A minor & E minor, is an orchestral recording conducted by Salvatore Accardo, in which two violins (Anne-Sophie Mutter and Salvatore Accardo) / solo violin (Anne-Sophie Mutter) are contrasted with a larger orchestra (English Chamber Orchestra) of strings and bass continuo instrument the harpsichord. Bach is often criticized for his strict attention to form. Whilst, I greatly admire Bach for his intellectual and methodical approach to composition, what I enjoy most is the harmonious and melodic music that results. This CD is a superb... Read review

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