Heifetz: Brahms Violin Concerto: RCA LSC-1903 (Telefunken-Decca pr. red/silver)
  $   90

 


$ 90 Sold For
Aug 28, 2012 Sold Date
Sep 9, 2011 Start Date
1 Number Of Bids
  Spain Country Of Seller
eBay Sold at
 
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Description

ITEM DESCRIPTION:

This outstanding LP from German RCA (LSC-1903, German Teldec Telefunken-Decca pressing, red/silver "Living Stereo" label, original inner sleeve included, glossy laminated jacket) features Jascha Heifetz's Olympian account of Brahms's Violin Concerto in D Major Op. 77, recorded with Fritz Reiner and the mighty Chicago Symphony Orchestra in the fabled acoustics of Orchestra Hall, Chicago in February 1955, still very much a landmark performance in this work's discography even over a half-century on, and here in its most desirable pressing.

 

Wrote the critic T.H. in his September 1985 review for The Gramophone: “You may think that Reiner starts the opening tutti at an extraordinarily quick speed—until you remember that he is going to accompany no less a virtuoso than Heifetz, so he is merely taking it to match his soloist's performance. You will like this if you think, as I do, that this concerto is too often played in the kind of 'autumnal' manner often attributed to Brahms's compositions but which really should not apply to many of them. With Heifetz it is played with respect but without any kind of reverent hushed awe.

 

“I have often commented on the way soloists play that passage in the first movement at bar 349, just as if they were pedestrians picking their feet gingerly through puddles (and Belkin is another of them). Heifetz shows that such passages can go in tempo without the slightest hesitation and in one of them, at bar 223, he even positively presses on. Yet there is never any lack of feeling in the music. Reiner accompanies faithfully if without any particular distinction. The slow movement is lovely and the finale is a winner, the playing of an exuberant young man, yet, Heifetz was over 50 when he made this record. It is entirely confident throughout—and just listen to his real staccato, a rare thing from violinists.”

 

Incidentally, the liner notes on the reverse side of the jacket are provided in English (by Claudia Cassidy, famous music critic of the Chicago Tribune), as well as in German and French (by Dr. Hans Koeltzsch).

 

CONDITION:

The gradations of condition I use are as follows: MINT, Near-Mint, Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor.

 

The condition of the jacket is EXCELLENT. There is minor bumping/wear at corners, as well as slight creasing and discoloration to the rear panel, but that is all. There are no seamsplits, bends, or owners' markings and the album remains perfectly solid, bright, glossy, and quite striking in appearance – overall, an excellent collector's copy.

 

The condition of the LP itself is EXCELLENT++. Although I will not say that the surfaces are absolutely flawless or completely silent, really the playback is just outstanding. Thus, I have rated it as excellent++; really, it is virtually near-MINT. If you must have a flawless (i.e., “MINT” copy), then please do not buy this LP. Overall, this rates as a truly fine collector's copy.

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