Khachaturian Violin Concerto Oistrakh vs. Kogan
I don't think that I had heard this piece for over 30 years, but recently acquired two recordings of it without really trying.
When I was in London two weeks ago I made a visit to Harold Moore's shop (luckily, there was a fabric store, Liberty, across the street, that my wife had targeted on her list, so we were each able to browse for an extended period without boring our mates with our hobbies). The proprietor, whose name I didn't catch but whom I gather inherited the shop from the eponymous founder, steered me to a Kogan disc featurng the aforementioned work paired with the Brahms Concerto.
My knowledge of Kogan is limited, as I don't think that his recordings were widely distributed stateside. The disc is on the Guild Label, the recordings are in late 1950s stereo. The Brahms with with Kondrashin and the Philharmonia and the K is with Monteux and the Boston SO. The Brahms is wonderful and has become my favorite version of this familiar work. The finale is a real gypsy dance, not the galumphing hash that
Reiner/Heifetz made of it. Kogan's tone coarsens now and then but most of the time he has a great wealth of color and tends to save the vibrato for maximum effect.
Back home an Amazon search for more Kogan led to the Oistrakh "Complete" EMI being offered, 16 discs for $25 , so I bit, despite already owning several of the recordings. One that I didn't own was his recording of the Khachaturian Concerto, so now I have two versions of the piece.
I enjoy this piece, despite it's obvious flaws. K was a composer who wrote music of great vitality in primary colors with his heart firmly resting on his sleeve. I know that he was denounced for "formalism" along with other Soviet era composers, and that just seems so hard to fathom. If any composer ever wrote more with the "common man" in mind, I can't name him or her. I should also mention that I'm a great sucker for the Love Music from Sparticus, which the slow movement of this concerto greatly reminds me of. I hope that such an admission won't disqualify me in the minds of others for not appreciating "serious" music.
I don't know why the Khachaturian doesn't show up more on concerts and give us all a break from the usual warhorses, wonderful though they are. I enjoy both of these recordings and won't pick a favorite.
When I was in London two weeks ago I made a visit to Harold Moore's shop (luckily, there was a fabric store, Liberty, across the street, that my wife had targeted on her list, so we were each able to browse for an extended period without boring our mates with our hobbies). The proprietor, whose name I didn't catch but whom I gather inherited the shop from the eponymous founder, steered me to a Kogan disc featurng the aforementioned work paired with the Brahms Concerto.
My knowledge of Kogan is limited, as I don't think that his recordings were widely distributed stateside. The disc is on the Guild Label, the recordings are in late 1950s stereo. The Brahms with with Kondrashin and the Philharmonia and the K is with Monteux and the Boston SO. The Brahms is wonderful and has become my favorite version of this familiar work. The finale is a real gypsy dance, not the galumphing hash that
Reiner/Heifetz made of it. Kogan's tone coarsens now and then but most of the time he has a great wealth of color and tends to save the vibrato for maximum effect.
Back home an Amazon search for more Kogan led to the Oistrakh "Complete" EMI being offered, 16 discs for $25 , so I bit, despite already owning several of the recordings. One that I didn't own was his recording of the Khachaturian Concerto, so now I have two versions of the piece.
I enjoy this piece, despite it's obvious flaws. K was a composer who wrote music of great vitality in primary colors with his heart firmly resting on his sleeve. I know that he was denounced for "formalism" along with other Soviet era composers, and that just seems so hard to fathom. If any composer ever wrote more with the "common man" in mind, I can't name him or her. I should also mention that I'm a great sucker for the Love Music from Sparticus, which the slow movement of this concerto greatly reminds me of. I hope that such an admission won't disqualify me in the minds of others for not appreciating "serious" music.
I don't know why the Khachaturian doesn't show up more on concerts and give us all a break from the usual warhorses, wonderful though they are. I enjoy both of these recordings and won't pick a favorite.
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