Following their immensely successful release of the first concertos of these two composers on Teldec 4509-92256-2, Maxim Vengerov and Mstislav Rostropovich have combined their efforts for another incredible pair of performances. With different personalities but comparable technical and musical challenges, these works are again brilliantly and effortlessly presented. On this disc, Vengerov performs on the 1723 "ex-Kiesewetter" Stradivarius violin.Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 2, like his first, predates his encounters with ...
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Following their immensely successful release of the first concertos of these two composers on Teldec 4509-92256-2, Maxim Vengerov and Mstislav Rostropovich have combined their efforts for another incredible pair of performances. With different personalities but comparable technical and musical challenges, these works are again brilliantly and effortlessly presented. On this disc, Vengerov performs on the 1723 "ex-Kiesewetter" Stradivarius violin.Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 2, like his first, predates his encounters with Stalinist repression and is a fresh, enthusiastic work. Larger in scope than the earlier concerto, it demands power in its near-symphonic passages -- and Vengerov supplies power in abundance. The work is also less self-consciously advanced in style than the first concerto, so Vengerov is able to open his tone to Romantic proportions in its extended lyrical passages. The effect is warm yet still thoroughly characteristic of Prokofiev, expressive at every turn. The barbarically...
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