Yitzhak Perlman – Elgar, Prokofiev Concerti and A Saint-Saens Bonus
- First let’s talk about the performer:
Most recently, Mr. Perlman has focused on teaching and also on developing his second career as an orchestra conductor. Previously, of course, he was one of the most renowned violinists of all time. He still does perform; however, most of his playing is associated with his concerts as a conductor, as well. In this DVD, we can see him as a young man of 25, when his career as a violinist was at its prime and growing. The Saint-Saens stems from these early days of 1971. The Elgar Violin Concerto, and the Prokofiev Concerto #1 were recorded some 10 years later, in 1980/81. Yep… that’s a long time ago. It provides us, however, with wonderful memories when a young kid broke into the World stage and gave us all so much enjoyable, warm, and spectacularly accomplished playing.
2. The Music:
The Elgar Concerto was made famous by Yehudi Menuhin many years ago, when – as a young boy – he performed it under Elgar’s direction. The rehearsal had barely started when Elgar declared that things were going marvelously well, and he is leaving to enjoy the horse races… Menuhin was started, but in the end, things worked out fine.
The Prokofiev comes from a much later time. Still, it is filled with some of Prokofiev’s most melodic and beautiful sounds.
Mr, Perlman is sensational in these recordings and the sound quality is great. Be prepared, however, that the video quality is not what we see these days: the video of 25 years ago was a lot less satisfying, and one can see the progress that this technology has made in the past few years. For a historic set of performances, this is still very enjoyable to watch, and exciting to hear!
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