Mendelssohn & Brahms: Violin Concertos

One of the most immediate impressions is that Martzy avoids any kind of flashy showmanship. Her Mendelssohn is refined and lyrical. She combines instrumental control with a sense of creative flexibility. However, my top choices in this piece are Stern/Ormandy and Zuckerman/Bernstein. With the Brahms Concerto, she takes her time, but never sounds slow. There is a sweet, lovely tone to her playing, and both she and Kletzki allow the music to breathe, remaining sensitive to its flow. Of course, a ton of recordings have been made of this resplendent work, and there a good number of very fine versions to choose from. Aside from this recording, I would single out the following, not necessarily in order of preference: Szeryng/Monteux, Grumiaux/Van Beinum, Szigeti/Harty(mono) and Oistrakh/Konwitschny(mono).