Bruch/Mendelssohn: Violin Concertos

Maxim does a great job with the Bruch concerto, fiery exposition in the first movement, and a technically flawless performance overall. The concerto just works well with Vengerov's style of playing: well articulated and very commanding. The Mendelssohn however, didn't impress me at all, musically. Technically, Vengerov is right on top of it, but the kind of vibrato he has, almost makes the opening melody... ugly if I can be so harsh. I can never listen to that portion of the cd. Of every performance i've heard of the Mendelssohn, I still put Stern on top.