GREAT RECORDINGS phase 16

SIBELIUS · Tchaikovsky · Glazunov
VIOLIN CONCERTOS
Jascha Heifetz
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Sir Thomas Beecham · Sir John Barbirolli

3 61590 2 (Angel: 3 61591 2)
Recorded 1935, 1937 & 1934
Mono/ADD
80 minutes

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‘All these performances show not only Heifetz’s fabulous virtuosity but also the high level of his emotional involvement. The recording of the Sibelius was the first ever, and is for many unsurpassed. The Glazunov is extraordinarily beautiful; the Tchaikovsky both brilliant and heartfelt.’ (The Gramophone)
Diapason d’Or, France

Though the great Russian-born American violinist Jascha Heifetz (1900–1987) had worked in recording studios in New York since 1917, he didn’t make his first concerto recordings until 1934, when at Abbey Road Studios in London, he was joined by his near-contemporary John Barbirolli (also a string player) and the recently-formed London Philharmonic Orchestra in two contrasted works: Mozart’s ‘Turkish’ Concerto and the first ever recording of the concerto by Glazunov.

The sessions, masterminded by EMI’s Fred Gaisberg, proved to be so agreeable for the artists and so successful for the Company, that Heifetz recorded further concertos with Barbirolli in 1935 (Vieuxtemps and Wieniawski) and in 1937 (the Tchaikovsky heard here, which was receiving only its second recording).

The third concerto on the disc is another gramophone premiere. Again with the London Philharmonic, this time conducted by the orchestra’s founder Sir Thomas Beecham, Heifetz recorded the Sibelius Concerto in late 1935. It was first issued as part of HMV’s Sibelius Society Edition and proved so successful that it was some years before any other violinist tried to emulate Heifetz’s achievement on disc. It has never lost its aura of uniqueness and for many it remains unsurpassed.