[TR24][OF] Johannes Brahms - Violin Concerto & Double Concerto for Violin and Cello - Julia Fischer, Daniel Müller-Schott (Muller-Schott), Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra Amsterdam, Yakov Kreizberg/Яков Крейцберг - 2007 (Classical)

Violin Concerto in D, Op. 77
01. I. Allegro non troppo (cadenza: Joseph Joachim) (23:17)
02. II. Adagio (9:30)
03. III. Allegro giocoso, ma non troppo vivace –Poco più presto (8:07)
Double Concerto for Violin and Cello in A minor, Op. 102
04. I. Allegro (16:09)
05. II. Andante (7:39)
06. III. Vivace non troppo – Poco meno allegro – Tempo I (8:15)

Is violinist Julia Fischer in the same league as David Oistrakh in her recording of Brahms' Violin Concerto? Are Fischer and cellist Daniel Müller-Schott in the same league as Oistrakh and Mstislav Rostropovich in their recording of Brahms' Double Concerto? No: Oistrakh and Rostropovich are playing big, muscular, and heroic music while Fischer and Müller-Schott are playing intimate, sensuous, and lyrical music. Fischer's tone is lovely, her technique is impeccable, but best of all his interpretation of the Violin Concerto is sweet, smiling, and joy-filled. Müller-Schott's tone is warm, his technique is impressive, but best of all his interpretation of the Double Concerto with Fischer sounds like a love duet from an Othello written by a German. Together with the lush and enveloping accompaniment of the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra Amsterdam led by Yakov Kreizberg, Fischer and Müller-Schott turn in performances that aren't in the same league as Oistrakh and Rostropovich -- they're in a wonderfully seductive league of their own. PentaTone's super audio digital sound is rich, full, deep, and just about real. --James Leonard, AllMusic
The partnership of Julia Fischer and Yakov Kreizberg… really comes into its own in the symphonic proportions of Brahms's Violin Concerto. From Fischer's opening imposing entry, it's clear that Kreizberg and the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra are at one with her every nuance and tempo fluctuation - dramatic, fiery and impetuous at first but then beautifully lyrical and introverted in the second idea. ...the Double Concerto... Fischer and her partner Daniel Müller-Schott are absolutely on the same musical wavelength delivering a blisteringly intense performance supported by outstandingly responsive playing from the Netherlands Philharmonic. --Erik Levi, BBC Music Magazine
Now well in her stride as a recording artist, German violinist Julia Fischer offers this ideal Brahms coupling in strong and sympathetic readings, joined in the Double Concerto by her brilliant young compatriot cellist, Daniel Müller-Schott. In the Violin Concerto, Fischer takes an expansive view of the first movement, freely varying the tempo as she did in her outstanding version of the Tchaikovsky Concerto (4/07). The 23-minute timing even underestimates her spaciousness, as she uses an unidentified cadenza rather shorter than the usual Joachim one (the booklet incorrectly says it’s the Joachim).
Shaham and Kremer offer tauter and brisker accounts of the first movement but Fischer amply justifies her spacious and flexible speeds in the feeling of spontaneity. Her performance never feels self-conscious or too studied and her range of tone and dynamic is extreme, bringing pianissimi of breathtaking delicacy. Thomas Zehetmair with the Northern Sinfonia present the work on a chamber scale – a performance I find exceptionally magnetic – and also take a tauter view. Fischer’s slow movement, too, is expansive while in the finale she lets the tempo relax just enough to allow a persuasive spring in the rhythms, bringing out the Hungarian dance flavour.
The Double Concerto is not nearly as expansive: no doubt the influence of Müller-Schott was important here as the cello takes the lead in introducing each theme, with the cellist matching his partner in warmth and brilliance. The outstanding cellist among the three here is Clemens Hagen, more deeply reflective than his rivals though the slow movement is marred by Harnoncourt’s unduly fast tempo.
Fischer and Müller-Schott are relaxed and easily lyrical in the slow movement, brilliant and thrusting in the finale. An outstanding disc which stands high on the list of this perfect coupling. --Edward Greenfield, Gramophone
Personnel:
Julia Fischer - violin
Daniel Müller-Schott - cello (Double Concerto)
Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra Amsterdam
conducted by Yakov Kreizberg
Recorded: Yakult Hall, Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam, December 2006, Violin Concerto; December 2005, Double Concerto