Sibelius - Violin Concerto [Zukerman/ Barenboim-London Philharmonic Orchestra]
What a lovely work this is, the first time i listened to it, one word came to mind, 'bleak', i felt there was a cold and bitterness to it, Tapiola was a Tone Poem that went with it, now i feel the word to sum it up isn't a cold one, but a real hot one, 'fire', there's an intensity in the virtuoso violin work here, yes it's in D Minor [one of my most favourite keys], and therefore there's going to be some dark dissonance, but now i feel the work is a warm hearted and passionate friend, i actually played this twice for good measure!, and i played this last year too [10th April 2011].
Pinchas Zukerman is now 63, he's an Israeli, and probably spent most of his life in America, now he has emigrated to Canada, he made this recording some time ago in 1975, the front cover is just simply superb, a gorgeous sunset over a lake, lovely sunburst, and great cloud formations, and dancing light on the lake, the logo and box for the lettering are great, one of the best releases in the DG Resonance series.
The sheer intensity of the final movement was breathtaking, but even so i still found the slow second movement to be even more intense, there's a slow build up to a tremendous ardour from the Violinist,
Here's Hilary Hahn playing the second movement on YouTube, with Lorin Maazel conducting.
