Negative Positive
Title: perfect (in a technical sense)
Review: There seems to be two schools of thought about Heifetz's playing; that it is either definitive or rather lacking in emotion. I think this disc accurately portrays the truth behind both of these viewpoints. The Tchaikovsky points to the former, the nature of this concerto suits Heifetz's style down to the ground, and he really does impress in this work. However, the Brahms is a work that benefits from more measured tempi to bring out the autumnal grace of the opening or the bouncy nature of the gypsy dance in the finale. Thus, Heifetz's (very impressive) race through the work is not entirely satisfactory, and places Reiner in the difficult position of having to keep up while maintaining the integrity of the orchestral part. This is not a bad recording, but I prefer violinists of the 'Oistrakh school of thought' in this work. In general, this disc is a violinists dream, but may not entirely satisfy as a whole.
Is the review positive or negative? 