Gidon Kremer, Mischa Maisky, Wiener Philharmoniker, Leonard Bernstein - Brahms: Violin Concerto, Double Concerto (1983)

Of the current CD, I can enthuse completely. In the Violin Concerto, Gidon Kremer plays with a rhapsodic flair that almost reminds me of Heifetz. I do not know whose cadenza he uses in the first movement; it is new to me. In the slow movement, Bernstein and Kremer weave textures that are beautiful without ever seeming solemn. The last movement is slightly faster than I am used to hearing, but if this does make for some awkward phrasing it is still very exciting. The Double Concerto receives the best performance I ever have heard. Much of the credit goes to Bernstein, who heightens the lyric element in the accompaniment without every becoming flabby or too terse. The sound of the orchestra here is glorious. Part of the improvement may be due to the fact that the Double Concerto was recorded in the Musikverein, while the Concerto was recorded in the Konzerthaus. Kremer and Maisky blend like two old colleagues who have nothing to prove to one another. There is nothing showy about their performances, unlike Rostropovich in the Szell recording. There is a winning combination of chamber music with symphonic writing in this performance, which may have been what Brahms had in mind all along, deriving inspiration from Beethoven's Triple Concerto. In sum, this CD offers highly desirable Brahms playing. It is possibly the best and perhaps least controversial Brahms that Bernstein recorded in Vienna.