Lydia Mordkovitch - Shostakovich: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 (1990) CD-Rip

This CD won a Gramophone Award when it was first released - and it's not hard to see why. The sound engineering is absolutely incredible as well, and I'm sure that played a part in it. This is probably the best pairing of the two Shostakovitch violin concertos out there. Mordovitch is clearly very much at home with both of these melodically dark and musically very different compositions. Jarvi got exactly the kind of sound needed from the orchestra, to match Mordkovitch's gigantic tone. The better-known first concerto has many pleasing moments, but Mordkovitch's playing of the spacious third movement cadenza is probably what got the disc the Grammy. Never before, and probably never again, will you hear the bridge between the third and fourth movements tossed off with such panache and technical perfection. The prickly second concerto is a relatively new addition to the repertoire (premiered only 40 years ago). While the first concerto has a number of fine recordings (Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg's is quite spectacular as well), you'd be hard-pressed to find one better than this of the second. Highly recommended.