Itzhak Perlman: Concertos, Sonatas and more…

This nine-disc box contains much of the same material in Sony’s Perlman Original Jacket Edition, plus his early RCA recordings, which provide the most compelling reason for acquiring the set. In particular, his first versions of concertos by Prokofiev (No. 2), Tchaikovsky, Lalo, and Sibelius, mostly with Leinsdorf and Boston (the Lalo features Previn and the LSO) are generally finer than his numerous remakes, offering playing that is gutsy and shamelessly virtuosic, and with a sharper rhythmic focus than Perlman often achieved subsequently. The finale of the Sibelius remains a potent example of the playing’s youthful fire. On the other hand, the much later triple and double concertos by Vivaldi and Bach, featuring Stern, Zukerman, and the NY Philharmonic under Mehta are, shall we say, pleasant but very occasional pieces. The rest of the set consists of chamber works. Some of the more important items include the two Prokofiev Violin Sonatas with Ashkenazy, the three Brahms sonatas in which Perlman is lovely but Barenboim’s sometimes soggy pianism is an acquired taste, and a very consequential recording of the Chausson Concert with the Juilliard Quartet and Jorge Bolet. The two Mozart Duos for violin and viola, with Pinchas Zukerman on viola, are also very substantial pieces, and these are beautiful performances of them. Two discs of delightful but very miscellaneous chamber works and encores, including the Serenade in C by Dohnányi and that in D by Beethoven, as well as Hindemith’s Sonata in E-flat major and some Paganini favorites, complete the classical offerings. The final disc is a compilation of mostly lyrical film score extracts, which you will either love or hate. I alternate between the two, but don’t expect to play that disc often–it does seem a bit out of place in the collection as a whole. Still, the price is dirt cheap and the performances are mostly splendid, even of the “crossover” material. A good deal. -- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com