The premise of this recording is to couple two complementary late-nineteenth century violin concertos: the Concerto in D minor of
Joseph Joachim and the Concerto in D major of
Johannes Brahms. Although
Brahms' Concerto in D major was unappreciated in its day, the work has become one of the most popular violin concertos of the nineteenth century, with hundreds of recordings to its credit. On the other hand,
Joachim's Concerto in D minor was wildly popular in its day, but has since dropped from the repertoire, and there are only three recordings currently available of his concerto. Rachel Barton's performance of both works is expressive and virtuosic. She makes the melodies ring and the cadenzas burn, makes the lines sing, and the emotions yearn. And she makes as convincing a case for the
Joachim concerto as she does for the
Brahms concerto. But as fine as her performances are, it's hard to recommend this recording as a first choice for either work. In the case of the
Brahms concerto, Barton is up against nearly every great violinist, and while she is a superb player in every way, she cannot match
Kreisler,
Heifetz,
Menuhin,
Grumiaux, or
Oistrakh. And while her performance is far more polished and passionate than the anonymous violinist on Vox's recording of the
Joachim concerto, Barton is neither as polished nor as passionate as
Elmar Oliveira in his recording on IMP Masters. And while the
Chicago Symphony plays well under conductor
Carlos Kalmar, it cannot compete with the
Chicago Symphony under
Reiner in
Heifetz's recording of the
Brahms concerto or the
Lucerne Festival Orchestra under
Fürtwangler in
Menuhin's recording, nor can it compete with the
London Philharmonic under
Botstein in
Oliveira's recording. Cedille's sound is warm and open.