Nathan Milstein Masterpieces for Violin and Orchestra 180g LP

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Violinist Nathan Milstein is backed by The Concert Arts Orchestra conducted by Walter Susskind for this recording of Violin and Orchestra masterpieces by Mozart, Beethoven, Wieniawski, Novacek, Stravinsky, and Saint-Saens.

Milstein Masterpieces has, since its first release in 1960, been a favorite among connoisseurs of violin recordings and classical music aficionados generally. Rare, premium condition copies command in excess of $500 on the pre-owned market, and to this day remain highly desirable and collectible.

Nathan Milstein's American debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1929 served notice throughout the nation that a young artist of special consequence had arrived. He was 25 that season, already a veteran of the European concert stage, and accolades. Master classes with Auer and Ysaye readied Milstein for a stellar career.

Analogue Productions has readied this superb reissue of Milstein Masterpieces for ultimate listening pleasure. They took the original analog tape to Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio for his mastering magic. The cut lacquers were plated and pressed onto 180-gram super-silent vinyl at Quality Record Pressings. No less than a heavyweight tip-on jacket from Stoughton Printing tops off the package.

The range of music presented on this collection - from the classical expression of Mozart to the salon civilities of Saint-Saens - confirms in permanent form what concert audiences heard and enjoyed for season after season.

The double-stopping of the big theme in the Wieniawski and the audible bouncing of the bow in the lightning-quick passages of the Saint-Saëns show Milstein at his best. The Stravinsky is presumably based on the composer's own arrangement for violin and piano (made with Dushkin), the violin taking not only the melody originally given to the bassoon but all the other phrases that could conceivably be regarded as melody. Here the orchestral part appears to be more than a restoration of the 1919 scoring with fuller woodwind added, conceivably owing something to the original 1911 scoring. In any case no one is likely to worry overmuch about the ancestry of what here becomes a delightful occasional piece, warmly performed...