This has to be the definitive recording of the D Minor Concerto, and even the Kreutzer, certainly among available choices. I still love my old vinyl DG album of the D minor Concerto (Kunsterdorf soloing, conductor was Fuseli) but it has yet to be reissued on cd or digitally.
well, rob cowan is talking a lot in and on gramophone, a big duty to pay for monthly results. first came zehetmayer/brueggen, than tetzlaff/zinman on top-position and now isabelle. its more an only personal taste to mark a real difference. but vengerov certainly celebrates a big romantic affair, though he can do so by virtuosity and rapim is on big scale also, but straight and absolutely secure. so listening to faust is another example for smaller sized views on a very big work. but don't forget the oldies.
In his recent review for the Gramophone, Rob Cowan gave this recording the edge over the new release on DG of exactly the same repertoire, only with hot property Russian violinist, Vadim Repin. Judging by Rob's remarks about Repin's account of the Violin Concerto, it sounds to me like a repeat of the awful, drawn-out affair that is the Vengerov/Rostropovich reading on EMI. No matter - Faust doesn't fall into the same torturous tempi trap. Her performance is, in my opinion, ideally paced, with clarity of tone, texture and colour (hers, and the orchestra's) a factor likely to appeal to those who've tired of overblown, overweight renditions of this fiddling staple. The recorded sound is near perfect (boxier in the Sonata), the line is never lost from beginning to end; and while the 'Kreutzer' Sonata is well-performed, it's beaten, for me, by the more expressive Kremer/Argerich partnership on DG - the 'yellow label' scoring a significant point here, after all. Highly recommended.
