Jascha Heifetz Plays Great Violin Concertos - Sony Classical Masters

Jascha Heifetz, David Oistrakh, Sviatoslav Richter, Vladimir Horowitz, Mstislav Rostropovich, Martha Argerich, Emil Gilels, Krystian Zimmerman, Wilhelm Furtwangler, Bruno Walter, Carlos Kleiber and Pierre Boulez have changed my buying and listening patterns. Earlier while buying music through Amazon, I used to type the composers name in the search box to look for good recordings. Good recordings based on popularity, reviews, price, year of recording, label. Currently I search for music performed by a particular musician, conductor or an orchestra. And when I find a musician or a conductor whom I really like, I look for box sets of their recordings.A box set is like a buffet while a single CD is like dining a-la-carte. A perfectionist may prefer a-la-carte, but budget constraints and the desire for MORE, nudges us in the direction of the overladen buffet. The EMI box sets of Oistrakh, Richter, Rostropovich are overladen buffets. There is a certain amount of duplication. Perhaps a minor compromise with sound quality. But on the whole they are a scintillating feast of great music by the Russian troika. The Furtwangler set clearly highlights his status as the greatest conductor of the 20th century.This Jascha Heifetz set is amazing. Sound quality on all the 6 CD's is very good considering the age of the recordings. And the music is like a sensuous river of sound. Seductive, eternal and immensely beautiful. I usually listen to it late night when the world is sleeping and silence reigns supreme.

These are recordings of Heifetz from the mid fifties and all are of excellent quality except for the Mozart concerto No 5 which is a little lower in sound quality - the playing is of the highest quality. The orchestras vary but include conducting by Fritz Reiner - a must for every fan of the violin.

Excellent bargain of 6 CDs. The recordings do show their age a bit, and the concertos of Mozart, Bach and Vivaldi do not conform to recent thinking of period instrument performance. Nevertheless, a wonderful overview of Heifetz's art and a must for all violin afficionados.

Remarkably good value for money - all the recordings are excellent. Heifetz may not have all the warmth in his playing that I would like, but the interpretations are excellent, especially the Sibelius violin concerto which is truly wonderful. A bargain!

Heifettz has it all. Technically brilliant and plays with amazing tone, feeling and passion. The Sibelius is my favourite here but there is a wide range of favourites including Bach, Brahms, Mendelssohn and Bruch to name but a few.

If you love the violin and believe that Heifetz is the best, then this is essential listening. At £2 per disk this must be charity shop pricing.

The recordings are of variable quality but Heifetz is faultless, and this shines through. Brahms and Beethoven concertos are particularly interesting.

beautiful