While this recording is wholly welcome, it is less wholly than necessary. Both works are among the handful of great English string concertos, but because there are few recordings of Britten's Violin Concerto and fewer still recordings of Walton's Viola Concerto, a great recording of either work would be a wonderful thing. But while Maxim Vengerov is a very fine player with some outstanding recordings to his credit, neither of these recordings are among them. Both are good enough and anyone who didn't already know the works ...
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While this recording is wholly welcome, it is less wholly than necessary. Both works are among the handful of great English string concertos, but because there are few recordings of Britten's Violin Concerto and fewer still recordings of Walton's Viola Concerto, a great recording of either work would be a wonderful thing. But while Maxim Vengerov is a very fine player with some outstanding recordings to his credit, neither of these recordings are among them. Both are good enough and anyone who didn't already know the works would be more than happy with either one. But in neither work does Vengerov do more than turn in a better than average performance. His Britten concerto is well-played and catches much of the work's lyrical drama, but compared with Theo Olof's heart-wrenching 1948 recording with John Barbirolli or Mark Lubotsky's exquisite 1970 recording with Britten himself conducting, Vengerov is an interpretive lightweight. His Walton Viola Concerto is likewise well-played and grandly melancholic,...
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Add this copy of Britten & Walton: Violin & Viola Concertos; Maxim to cart. $4.16, very good condition, Sold by Ezekial Books, LLC rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Manchester, NH, UNITED STATES, published 2003 by EMI Classics.
Add this copy of Britten & Walton: Violin & Viola Concertos; Maxim to cart. $7.94, like new condition, Sold by Streetlight_Records rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Santa Cruz, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2003 by EMI Classics.
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