Hi,

I'm thinking of buying a CD or two of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor. I just got introduce to this piece in Youtube. And I fell in love immediately on the music. I specially like the beautiful 2nd movement. I need your recommendation on what CD to buy. I'm choosing from the following..

- Kyung Wha Chung with Dutoit (Decca Legends)
- Sarah Chang with Jansons (EMI)
- Anne-Sophie Mutter with Karajan (DG Originals)
- Janine Jansen with Chailly (Decca)

Feel free to recommend other CDs not listed above. And please provide reason why you recommend a particular CD compared to others. Thanks.


Best Regards,
troyr31sg

I'm not the type who will argue that one performance/interpretation is officially the "finest;" I would encourage you to just buy two of the one's you listed and decide which one you like better.

While I haven't heard the Mendelssohn VC in a long time, I remember liking Perlman's and Mutter's version. I'm not sure about Chung or Chang... Maybe oisfetz can weigh in; he's the violin/cello guy on the forums.

Thanks Hexameron. I'm not really looking for the "finest". Just want to know favorites of others and maybe I'll be able to get a very good first 1 or 2 CD of the piece. Any more insights from others?

I have the one with Menuhin, and Furtwangler conducting the Berliners (EMI Great Recordings of the Century.) It's nice...I haven't listened to many others to provide a proper comparison.

Also, I would just add that to expose yourself to a broad range of music (within classical music), avoid repeats initially. Of course, you will definitely want to listen to other interpretations, but reserve that for later, especially if you do not want to spend a lot just buying CDs. Just my 2 cents.

__________________
Regards,
Navneeth

This one is good. You get Beethoven's VC too, played by one of the best violinists of the 20 th centrury:

I have Oistrakh along with Viotti No. 22 and a Tartini sonata.

Heifetz is indeed one of the best players of that concerto. I have that same CD. Isaac Stern and Itzhak Perlman do a pretty good job of it, too (I like the old-fashioned guys ).

I just got a version of the Mendelssohn with Hilary Hahn. That is recording 6 of the Mendelssohn that I now own. I had heard pretty good things about this recording, but I'm not really that fond of it. While it is technically wonderful, compared to most others it seems very rushed. The 3rd movement is fully 2 minutes faster than Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg's; the second movement is similarly much faster. The end result seems less than idyllic, which is what the concerto has always seemed to imply to me previously.

Other versions that I enjoy are Perlman and Chung, an old LP of Stern with Ormandy and Philadelphia

My recording of the Mendelssohn is Chee Yun's. It's slower than some, so be guided by your own instincts. The CD (by Denon) includes a very good recording of the Vieuxtemps Concerto #5 in A minor, which (as a concerto) I HIGHLY recommend.

Some personal picks with stars...

In order:

1-Chung-****
2-Mutter-***1/2
3-Chang-***
4-Jansen-**1/2

Other top personal picks:

1-Heifetz-RCA-****
2-Perlman-EMI-****

Good luck and happy listening.

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I have this as part of the Classical Collection with someone called Helena Spitkova on vn. and conducted by Alberto Lizzio.
(coupled with Sym#4"Italian" under Alfred Scholz/LSO)

I've had the Nigel Kennedy/Jeffrey Tate/ECO recording on EMI paired with the Bruch and a fine Schubert Rondo for many years and have not been compelled to search out others; it's as fine as any.




However, the Mendelssohn is also included on one of the fine bargains available, that of the 2-CD set featuring Ivry Gitlis on the Vox label.

Strongly recommended: get ARKADIA 78576, THREE different versions of the
complete concerto:
Heifetz-Beecham
Milstein-Walter
Oistrakh-Kondrashin
Best of the best.