Mediocre Heifetz

[Simkin]

Jascha Heifetz was called the emperor of the violin by the media. But does he deserve the title? This experiment will help to find out. Here are two performances of the same musical piece ( Brahms violin concerto, third part). One is by Heifetz (I'll not tell you which), another by a female violinist you never heard about. I suggest that you after blind listening tell which performance is better. It would be good if you also explain your choice in a posting.

First performance

Second performance

[Bro]

I suspect the first was Heifetz - it seemed a bit stiff and unyielding. The second one was more flexible but seemed to lack any character - I would not buy either one.

[Rach3]

Thanks, very interesting.

Think # 1 is Heifetz. # 2 is also excellent. Whoever are either, # 1 a little tauter, aristocratic,, I like it a bit better than the more relaxed ( at times wandering) # 2.Neither mediocre IMHO.

A great (!) live performance of the Brahms just happened to hear today, especially first mov. At about 33 minutes in if you wish to skip the Sibelius . I enjoyed Zimmermann here more than my ’50s RCA lp by Heifetz/Reiner/CSO and more than your # 1 or # 2, Zimmermann more passionate, spontaneous , no doubt assisted by being live.

Enregistré le 09/06/2022 au Victoria Hall, Geneva

Jean Sibelius - Symphonie No. 5 en Mi bémol Majeur op. 82

Johannes Brahms - Concerto en Ré Majeur pour violon et orchestre, op. 77

Johann Sebastian Bach - Sarabande, de la 'Partita No. 1 en si mineur pour violon seul, BWV 1002' (bis)
- Adagio, de la 'Sonate No. 3 en Do Majeur pour violon seul, BWV 1005' (bis)

Frank Peter Zimmermann, violon
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Jonathan Nott

https://www.rtbf.be/auvio/detail_les-gr ... id=2927591

[maestrob]

Hello Simkin, and welcome aboard.

Wednesday is my opera day, so I'll hear your two options perhaps tomorrow or Friday.

Rach3: I am a huge fan of Zimmermann, who is one of the best of the current crop. I will definitely be hearing it soon. Thanks.

[Simkin]

Thanks, very interesting.

Think # 1 is Heifetz. # 2 is also excellent. Whoever are either, # 1 a little tauter, aristocratic,, I like it a bit better than the more relaxed ( at times wandering) # 2.Neither mediocre IMHO.

Did you vote in the poll?

[Lance]

Simkin registered for CMG in September 2005! Where has Simpkin been all this time?

Hello Simkin, and welcome aboard.

[maestrob]

Simkin:

Unable to participate as my security software blocked the download.

Suggest using youtube links in future, something we can all access.

[Simkin]

Unable to participate as my security software blocked the download.

Suggest using youtube links in future, something we can all access.

You wish a video? So that you could recognize the performer and make the right decision in rating performances?

[CharmNewton]

Unable to participate as my security software blocked the download.

Suggest using youtube links in future, something we can all access.

You wish a video? So that you could recognize the performer and make the right decision in rating performances?

There are millions of audio-only recordings on YouTube. With some care in your presentation, you might have hundreds if not thousands participate in your poll.

John

[barney]

Simkin registered for CMG in September 2005! Where has Simpkin been all this time?

Hello Simkin, and welcome aboard.

Simkin, like Rip van Winkle, has recently arisen from a profound snooze. This was very intelligent as he missed some rather bad years, though not sure those coming are any better.
Welcome back Simkin.

[mikealdren]

Have I downloaded the same thing twice? They are remarkably similar!

[Simkin]

There are millions of audio-only recordings on YouTube. With some care in your presentation, you might have hundreds if not thousands participate in your poll.

You also could not download the clips because of security software?

[slofstra]

I guess I'm late to the party.
I much, much preferred number 2. It breathes a bit. Number 1 tries to impress through speed and loses rhythm and expression as a result.
I suspect 1 is the Heifetz simply because the technical recording quality of number 2 seems recent, thus not Heifetz. I have only a few Heifetz recordings but the performances are much better than number 1.
I had no trouble downloading the files or voting.

Neither come close to this performance, IMO.

https://youtu.be/NFHmWOEw0fM
(Perlman, LPO)