Beethoven: Violin Concerto In D Major, Op. 61; Romances For Violin No. 1 In G Major, Op. 40 & No. 2 In F Major, Op. 50

tres belle interpretation du concerto pour violon

What better than La Scala! I just love it.

Beautiful recording. I recommend it for your collection.

There's plenty of beauty in this, Accardo's second recording of the Beethoven concerto (his first was with Kurt Masur and the Leipzig Gewandhaus for the Philips label), and overall I enjoyed it, but it seems to my ears that his intonation is not always quite as secure as one would expect for a violinist of his stature. It is well known that the lack of conventional 'virtuosity' in this concerto leaves the slightest tuning flaws exposed in a performance, and even the finest professional violinists are aware that the work remains a severe test of their control, but considering that Accardo recorded this over a four-day period (10-13 Deccember 1992) I'm surprised that the end result on this disc presumably represents the best 'takes' that were available. If the tuning imperfections don't bother you (for a random example, I'd cite the B at 2'43 - 2'44 in the slow movement) no doubt you'll enjoy this relaxed performance for its undoubted musicality. I'll be returning to this performance in future, but I wouldn't recommend it as the only version of the concerto to have in one's collection. I didn't have any reservations about the performances of the two Romances.Or am I being too critical? If there are any violinists reading this who have experience of performing the concerto, I'd be interested to hear your views about whether you consider Accardo's minor blemishes in intonation to be significant, and if it's felt that my comments are unduly critical, I'll delete this review.