Oistrakh, Menuhin & Rostropovich Play Bach, Brahms & Mozart (EMI Classic Archive 18)
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: David Oistrakh, Mstislav Rostropovich, Yehudi MenuhinBrand: EMD
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, Classical, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 89 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-02-10
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: EMI Classics
Movie Reviews of Oistrakh, Menuhin & Rostropovich Play Bach, Brahms & Mozart (EMI Classic Archive 18)
Movie Review: O wondrous russian music making.
Summary: 5 Stars
When I commented for this website the VHS tape release of the Bruno Monsaingeon film on David Oistrakh ("Artist of the people?"), I made reference to a short segment included in that film of a 1965 public performance of Brahms' Op. 102 in which Oistrakh partners with Rostropovich, pleading for the whole performance to be made available to the general public. Well, here it is, complete (BBC commentator and all) and providing us with one of the most stunning readings of the work one is likely to find. And what a performance it is! In spite of an english venue (the venerable Royal Albert Hall) this is an all-russian affair (Oistrakh & Rostropovich at the solo parts, the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Kirill Kondrashin) preserved for posterity by the BBC that embodies all we grew accustomed to expect from russian music making (passion, energy, feeling, utmost dedication, impeccable playing and a style very much of their own): what you're given here is Brahms of the today seldom seen (or rather, heard) kind, with energetic, swift tempi that show the composer at its most romantic and direct that immediately makes you do away with the pompous, heavy image that seems to have taken hold in later years. Older collectors may recall the late 1950's RCA LP of this same work with Heifetz and Piatigorsky, accompanied by Alfred Wallenstein conducting an uncredited orchestra (the LA Philharmonic, perhaps?), for the approach to Brahms' music is is similar. No wonder, a thunderous and well deserved applause from those lucky Londoners that attended the concert greets the last note of the third movement. This is the gem of the disc, as far as I'm concerned, the integration of both solo instrumentalists, orchestra and conductor absolute.
There are two other full works included, as well as a short segment of a Bach solo cello suite. Of this material, the well known Mozart Sinfonia Concertante is also very compelling, with David Oistrakh taking charge of the viola part (and what an accomplished viola player he was!) and Igor Oistrakh the violin. The performance, also live and also the product of a London visit from these russian forces, dates from two years earlier than the Brahms and features the Moscow Philharmonic as well but the conductor is Menuhin. Father and son work wonders here, the conducting from Menuhin I found rather average although he does establish a sound sense of style (mind you, this is 1963, ages before the original instruments movement took hold) that keeps the conception and his russian orchestral players in due focus.
The Bach 2-violin concerto that opens the disc, a Paris 1958 affair that shows Oistrakh strikingly thinner than in the two London concerts (I estimated he gained some good 10 kilos along the 5 years that separate that Salle Pleyel event from the 1963 RAH Mozart performance) is perhaps the weakest of the three complete performances shown. The two solo violin parts are assumed by Menuhin and Oistrakh and are partnered by a french chamber orchestra and conductor unknown to me. It is not without interest, but there's so much more substance in the two London performances that one is tempted to push the skip button in the remote control and jump on at least until the Mozart begins.
The booklet included with the disc is informative but rather short in content, sound is mono and images are in black and white. Picture quality and sound are better in the BBC video tapes than in the ORTF one. In the Brahms performance, TV image production is credited to a then young Brian Large ...
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Summary of Oistrakh, Menuhin & Rostropovich Play Bach, Brahms & Mozart (EMI Classic Archive 18)
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