Recorded in 1992 during his brief but productive tenure as director of the Israel Chamber Orchestra, Shlomo Mintz's set of the Vivaldi violin concertos and string symphonies has already gained a great deal of deserved respect. Mintz's playing in the concertos is tirelessly energetic. He pays constant attention to every detail in the score, both in his solo part as well as in the orchestral accompaniment. Intonation is flawless throughout, and Mintz's tone is clear and unforced. The quip that comes up with any extensive ...
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Recorded in 1992 during his brief but productive tenure as director of the Israel Chamber Orchestra, Shlomo Mintz's set of the Vivaldi violin concertos and string symphonies has already gained a great deal of deserved respect. Mintz's playing in the concertos is tirelessly energetic. He pays constant attention to every detail in the score, both in his solo part as well as in the orchestral accompaniment. Intonation is flawless throughout, and Mintz's tone is clear and unforced. The quip that comes up with any extensive recording of Vivaldi's works, however, is the old adage that Vivaldi merely wrote the same concerto 600 times. Although the liner notes make reference to Mintz's efforts to ensure that each concerto is given an independent life of its own, it's difficult to say whether or not this actually occurs. True, Mintz's slow movements are deeply stylized and certainly take on their own individual characters, the fast movements with their extensive use of sequential material do tend to all run...
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