Oistrakh, Menuhin & Rostropovich Play Bach, Brahms & Mozart (EMI Classic Archive 18)

Starring:David Oistrakh, Yehudi Menuhin, Mstislav Rostropovich
Studio: EMI Classics
Product Type: DVD

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The Art of Violin
Art of the Violin
Captivating and Unique
Devil's thrill !
Wonderful

The Art of Violin
Starring: Laurent Korcia , Jascha Heifetz , Anja Søgaard Miechels , Mstislav Rostropovich , and Itzhak Perlman
Director: Bruno Monsaingeon
Manufacturer: Nvc Arts
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Music Video & Concerts | Genres | DVD | Video

Biography | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

( A ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

The Art of Piano - Great Pianists of 20th Century
Heifetz in Performance [includes DVD]
Itzhak Perlman: Beethoven/Brahms Violin Concertos
Heifetz & Piatigorsky - Historic Performance Film Footage
The Art of Conducting - Legendary Conductors of a Golden Era

ASIN: B00005ABSQ
Release Date: 2001-11-13

Amazon.com

A documentary film by Bruno Monsaingeon devoted to the 20th century's greatest violinists, The Art of Violin really cannot be faulted. The same, incidentally, can also be said of the similar volumes that cover the piano and singing, so there's never been a better time to collect a personal audio-visual archive of some wonderful historical performers. The added dimension provided by the painstakingly collected film material (here featuring no fewer than 20 outstanding soloists) is of exceptional value when observing violin technique, and the diversity of approaches presented here in loving detail is in itself a subject for endless comparison. The material mixes archive performance footage, much of which one might never have dreamed existed, with interviews and documentary commentary. However, rather than turn the project into a museum piece, Monsaingeon includes contributions from contemporary figures such as Itzhak Perlman and Hilary Hahn. An absolute must. --Roger Thomas, Amazon.co.uk

Customer Reviews:

The Art of Violin.......2007-02-07

This DVD will bring tears to your eyes. My father was a professional violist for over 40 years and got much pleasure from this video. My mother enjoys watching this video at least once a week. It will inspire any young violinst to play with more feeling and overall satisfaction. Just seeing the old footage of the great masters of long ago is worth your purchase. If you are a lover of music, you must have this in your collection.

Art of the Violin.......2007-01-21

This DVD is exceptional in every respect. It is technically well done, covers all the leading violin artists of the 20th century and has solid interpretive inteviews with recognized virtuosi such as Hilary Hahn and Itzhak Perlmanand Isa Haendel. The actual playing will take your breath away.

Captivating and Unique.......2006-12-19

As a confirmed violin junky, this was the documentary I had waited my whole life to see. It never could have lived up to my expectations, but it came close. My only real complaints are:

*The emphasis on Menhuin. He was great, sure, but hardly the epoch-maker he is played up to be in this. This is even more annoying considering how little consideration is given to Stern.

*The way Kreisler and Ysaye are glossed over simply because there is less archival footage of them. Surely the director could have cobbled together some still footage and some of their recordings and had a more fair and balanced discussion of their remarkable contributions to violin-playing and literature. Or, for that matter, the fact that it was they, among others, who pivoted the instrument from the 19th to the 20th century.

*No mention of Leopold Auer at all seems inconceivable, but somehow he is omitted from this film!

In short, "The Art of Violin" is more a rhapsody than a sonata-allegro, but it still charms.

Devil's thrill !.......2006-12-09

This is an extrordinary document that preserves for the memory of the future the craft of some of the most notabe soloists of this instrument. The possibility to watch and admire the artistic height of these violinist in just one DVD is a true Gods gifts.

Absoluetly recommended.

Wonderful.......2006-11-17

We can dispute who got the most play time and focus, but the dvd is worth its price for Oistrakh's performance of the Shostakovich Aminor Cadenza. My taste and loyalty is usually with Heifetz, but Oistrakh's performance was out of this world.

Oistrakh, Menuhin & Rostropovich Play Bach, Brahms & Mozart (EMI Classic Archive 18)

Average customer rating:

?
Music making at its best
Greatness captured
O wondrous russian music making.
Menuhin's Fans Might Well be Disappointed, But...

Oistrakh, Menuhin & Rostropovich Play Bach, Brahms & Mozart (EMI Classic Archive 18)
Starring: David Oistrakh , Yehudi Menuhin , and Mstislav Rostropovich
Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Music Video & Concerts | Genres | DVD | Video

Deals Over $10 | DVD Blowouts | Stores | DVD | Video

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Similar Items:

David Oistrakh: Brahms/Sibelius/Tchaikovsky
Beethoven Cello Sonatas Nos. 1-5 / Rostropovich, Richter
Mozart Violin Concerto / Brahms Violin Concerto etc. / Nathan Milstein (EMI Classic Archive 13)
Bach - Cello Suites / Rostropovich
Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4 & Mendelssohn Violin Concerto & Walton Cello Concerto / Rubinstein, Heifetz, Piatigorsky (EMI Classic Archive 4)

ASIN: B0001AW07A
Release Date: 2004-02-10

Customer Reviews:

?.......2006-05-25

This DVD is either defective or else (like another EMI music DVD I bought, also Oistrakh by the way) will not play on a computer. I hit "play programme" and watched the Bach. (It was boring. I sigh do not like Bach's organ music or his chamber or orchestral music, and I knew it when I bought it. Duh!) Then the screen went black and stayed that way. After worrying with the thing for a couple minutes I tried clicking "play" and found myself at the start of the Mozart (the 2nd piece). I didn't watch it. I was tired and disgusted. On the Bach at least (BW), the picture was clear and distinct and the sound was good (probably better on a stereo than on a computer). There were no fancy camera shots of fingering or bowing, but sigh I was able to watch their bowing and how they held their bows, which was what I wanted to see. I will take this home and try it on my ordinary DVD player. I expect it to work (the other EMI I bought did), and if not, sigh, I'll just exchange it. Incidentally, I don't expect to enjoy this DVD. I bought it because it was a near miss, Amazon is running out of music DVDs that I am interested in, HAS run out of them. I am mainly interested in watching the violinists' technique. I am studying the fiddle myself.

Music making at its best.......2006-02-24

If you were planning to buy just one dvd with Rostropovich, this should be the one. And, actually, only the Brahms concerto would suffice: here we see two giants, Rostropovich and Oistrakh, playing together in a way that would make even the best performers of today envious. They are totally 'together', in every way: musically, of course, extremely together (always keeping an eye/ear on eachother), down to the very sixteenth-note; physically together (watch all their movements, as if simultaneously moved by Brahms himself); and, especially, emotionally together: this makes this sich an exhilirating performance of Brahm's music. One moment makes this clear: in the middle of a intense and dramatic, almost wild section, they exchange just one glance, just a fraction of a second, and go on, together, passionately. At that moment you realise what you are seeing: the summit of musicianship. Fascinating, gripping, brilliant. This makes the rest of the dvd, almost by definition, a bit tepid, but who cares?

Greatness captured.......2006-01-21

It's hard to envision a better offering than Oistrakh and Rostropovitch playing the Brahms Double. Luckily, this DVD does not disappoint, bringing that moment of musical excellence to remastered life, and adding to the mix some Bach and Mozart.
These broadcasts, culled from the BBC archives, present Oistrakh at his best. Each performance highlights his musical generosity, while demonstrating his ability to mesh with each partner's individual style. Whereas the Brahms has the ideal pairing, the Mozart is almost eerie in the way father and son play in almost the exact same way. The Bach performance has something to offer as well, especially for violinists, if only to compare the bow arm differences between the two players.
Yet another excellent EMI release, almost making up for the false advertising of the Heifetz-Rubinstein-Piatiagorsky DVD.

O wondrous russian music making........2004-12-17

When I commented for this website the VHS tape release of the Bruno Monsaingeon film on David Oistrakh ("Artist of the people?"), I made reference to a short segment included in that film of a 1965 public performance of Brahms' Op. 102 in which Oistrakh partners with Rostropovich, pleading for the whole performance to be made available to the general public. Well, here it is, complete (BBC commentator and all) and providing us with one of the most stunning readings of the work one is likely to find. And what a performance it is! In spite of an english venue (the venerable Royal Albert Hall) this is an all-russian affair (Oistrakh & Rostropovich at the solo parts, the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Kirill Kondrashin) preserved for posterity by the BBC that embodies all we grew accustomed to expect from russian music making (passion, energy, feeling, utmost dedication, impeccable playing and a style very much of their own): what you're given here is Brahms of the today seldom seen (or rather, heard) kind, with energetic, swift tempi that show the composer at its most romantic and direct that immediately makes you do away with the pompous, heavy image that seems to have taken hold in later years. Older collectors may recall the late 1950's RCA LP of this same work with Heifetz and Piatigorsky, accompanied by Alfred Wallenstein conducting an uncredited orchestra (the LA Philharmonic, perhaps?), for the approach to Brahms' music is is similar. No wonder, a thunderous and well deserved applause from those lucky Londoners that attended the concert greets the last note of the third movement. This is the gem of the disc, as far as I'm concerned, the integration of both solo instrumentalists, orchestra and conductor absolute.

There are two other full works included, as well as a short segment of a Bach solo cello suite. Of this material, the well known Mozart Sinfonia Concertante is also very compelling, with David Oistrakh taking charge of the viola part (and what an accomplished viola player he was!) and Igor Oistrakh the violin. The performance, also live and also the product of a London visit from these russian forces, dates from two years earlier than the Brahms and features the Moscow Philharmonic as well but the conductor is Menuhin. Father and son work wonders here, the conducting from Menuhin I found rather average although he does establish a sound sense of style (mind you, this is 1963, ages before the original instruments movement took hold) that keeps the conception and his russian orchestral players in due focus.

The Bach 2-violin concerto that opens the disc, a Paris 1958 affair that shows Oistrakh strikingly thinner than in the two London concerts (I estimated he gained some good 10 kilos along the 5 years that separate that Salle Pleyel event from the 1963 RAH Mozart performance) is perhaps the weakest of the three complete performances shown. The two solo violin parts are assumed by Menuhin and Oistrakh and are partnered by a french chamber orchestra and conductor unknown to me. It is not without interest, but there's so much more substance in the two London performances that one is tempted to push the skip button in the remote control and jump on at least until the Mozart begins.

The booklet included with the disc is informative but rather short in content, sound is mono and images are in black and white. Picture quality and sound are better in the BBC video tapes than in the ORTF one. In the Brahms performance, TV image production is credited to a then young Brian Large ...

Menuhin's Fans Might Well be Disappointed, But..........2004-04-17

If you're a Menuhin fan, you will probably be disappointed. His part is mainly limited to the Bach Concerto for Two Violins (played with Oistrakh). And the collaboration between the two masters is more whimsical than musical. Furthermore, part of, if not the whole of, the footage is already available elsewhere.

Having said that, this Bach is very illuminating in that we can see the very essence of these two top violinists. These two maestros are so juxtapositioned that we can compare them alongside virtually phrase by phrase. The second movement is especially intriquing. The directly to the heart sort of Menuhin's communication, the metaphysical sort of his yearning of must have created a lot of heat for Oistrakh who was soaked in sweats. And seldom was Oistrakh's playing so sublime and heartfelt if not equally spiritual. There is some more compensation for Menuhin's fans in seeing him conducting the Mozart Sinfonia played by the Oistrakhs.

The Oistrakh fans certainly fare better. Not only do they see him playing a viola perhaps for the first time, they could also see how well his son/student is playing Moart. He did have his father's complete naturalness with the instrument, nor an absolute command like his father: There is some battling with the instrument at times. However, there is a sensibility and freshness which makes one think that, in terms of style and tone, Oistrakh the son would be a better partner for Menuhin even in the Bach. Anyway, his Mozart is superb, and in some ways he is even better than his father.

We could also see Oistrakh in the Brahm's double concert with Rostropovich, something which neither the fans of Oistrakh or Rostropovich or any music lover could afford to do without. It was simply marvelous ( particularly the second movement, for Oistrakh's fans). For Rostropovich's fans, there is the bonus of his Bach suite #3 for solo cello.

Customer Reviews:

Great Violinists (and Cellist) of the Bell Telephone Hour.......2004-11-11

Great to see and hear all of these musicians perform - However, I think cellists should be appropriately represented on a DVD devoted to the art of cello playing, not as add-on bonus items on a violinist DVD. Also, for me, hearing the last movement of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in two different performances was not as interesting as having more variety in repertoire. Could it be that there is so little to choose from in the archives of the Bell Telephone Hour?

Poor Picture Quality with More than Acceptable Sound.......2003-07-05

It was a joy to see Morini play, albeit just for one movement. She was one of the pre-eminent violinists of the Vienna School, the sound as dictinct from the Russian School is so lean and so elegant. She was the perhaps the only vioinist whom Heifetz really admired. Heifetz actually took his violin to her asking her to teach him her staccato-- Menuhin also asked Oistrakh to share with him his staccato too.

We also have Menuhin and Oistrakh in this DVD. Menuhin played part of the Paganini whereas the Oistrakhs played part of the Bach souble concerto. Fans of Menuhin and Oistrakh of course would not like to miss them.

What are really outstanding in this DVD are: 1/ Isaac Stern's Saint-Saens. Having heard his marvelous performance, one have to upgrade him to one of the greatest masters of all times-- as a whole even better than many of Oistrakh's playing; 2/ we have a top representive of the finest Viennese School of viloinists, Morini which is so different from those violinists of the Modern Russian School: she played with such grace and assurance, and was definitely an aristocrat of violinists. She was the one who automatically moved Furtwangler to tears upon the very sight of her after WWII...

Sure Elman sold most records at his time and my daughter in fact grows up with his music. But here somehow, one gets the feeling that Elman is lost in his quest for a beautiful sound.

We also have Ricci and Rabin, the two child prodigies. On this occasion, it's interesting to see who gets it better as they are both playing the third movt of Tsaichovsky.

What is more interesting would be Francescati though. Here we see some colourful playing , not just the sunshine we used to have from this master.

As bonus, we have two pieces by Piatigorsky. Both wonderful works. It's not as long as Walton Concerto from the newly issued EMI, but lovely little pieces. If one ever finds Rostropovich too tense, one ought to lend his ears to Piatigorsky. He was handpicked by Furtwangler to become the principal cellist of Berlin Philharmonic; he also played quite a lot of chamber music with Horowitz and Mehuhin and later with Milstein. He also took up Feuerman's place and teamed up with Heifetz. Horowitz ranked him the best cellist of his time after Casals.

The picture of this series is barely acceptable though. The colour is like what we had when we first have colour pictures and the grains are not fine enough and the preservation of the film is far from the best. The sound is fortunately more than acceptable. But again, it's somewhat discounted by standard of the orchestra. Otherwise, this DVD should deserve a 5 stars.

Intriguing document of heroes from the past.......2003-02-28

This is a great video especially if you are a musical historian or if you play violin. You may become frustrated by the many excerpts of full length concertos because the entire concerto is not presented. Keep in mind they were aried live on national television and the show only permitted little time for performaces so they had to decide what will be played with the length of time available. In all actuality, we are lucky to see these performance that have never before been issued.

Stern-Saint-Saens Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso:
Not my favorite performer but he is in his prime at the time this was made and his intonation is better than usual. His timing is still lacking for my tastes and perhaps a lack of inspiration kept me from fully loving this performance. What I did like was that the fingers of his left hand can clearly be seen so we can see his choice of fingerings, shifts, vibrato, and phrasing style which can be used to better understand the mechanics of how to play the piece correctly.

Francescatti-Debussy La Fille aux Cheveux de lin:
Im not really the biggest fan of Debussy but this is a good vehicle for Francescatti to show off his wonderful tone, I don't think I have ever heard a tone like that before or since.

Francescatti-Sarasate Zigeunerweisen:
I like Francescatti for the more singing style material and not as much the virtuoso material. His tone is again fantastic but his intonation and timing are not entirely satisfying to me on this one, but I loved watching and hearing him play anyways. More insight on how to play this unbelievably beautiful and difficult piece.

Rabin-Tchaikovsky Concerto Movement 3:
This is the guy that made me want to play violin, his bowing and intonation is completely faultless, his tone is full, his timing deadly accurate. No doubt about it Rabin was a monster violinist with an awesome tone. This performance is very strict with the rythm and contains deadly accuracy, while some may perfer a more loose and playful interpretation. This video only confirms what I already knew, he could play the Tchaikovsky as well and convincingly as anyone who ever lived. Remember Rabin is the violinist who even Galamian said he has "...no weaknesses, not ever." I honestly see Rabin as a mix between the virtuosity of Heifetz (who he greatly admired) and the beauty of Francescatti. It is apparent to me his playing is not quite what it was in 1959 but it is really really great have a chance to watch his technique.

Rabin-Kreisler Caprice Viennois:
I absolutely melted inside when I hard Rabin play this. What an awesome melody proceeded by that spine-tingling chromatic passage. This clip shows Rabin's ability to play with completely effortless and flawless technique and at the same time play with sensitivity and incredible beauty and expression.

Rabin-Kreisler Tambourin Chinois:
Not my favorite piece but it is difficult and played very well. I remeber the first time I listened to Kreisler's music and thinking that he must have known Paganini's music intimitely.

Mischa Elman:
Not one of my favorite violinists but this is a good example of his golden tone that everyone fell in love with during his day. The Wieniawski here is such a beautiful piece of music.

Morini-Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 mvmt 3:
This clip totally blew me away! Morini studied with Sevick and has such an articulate bow technique, her staccato is simply nothing less than powerful and commanding. Perhaps the Bruch should be played a bit more smoothly and not as choppy but I loved this performance anyways, especially considering the high level of difficulty involved in performing it. I read in one of her CDs that Bruch himself consulted with her about his intentions for this piece so we can know by watching this that is it close to the composer's intent.

Menuhin-Paganini Violin Concerto No. 1 mvmts 2 & 3:
Im not really big on Menuhin especially for virtuoso material but I love when he plays melodic and singing pieces. The second movement was played with true beauty and elegance. Again, it is useful for me to see a virtuoso's left hand to better know what their preferences are for fingerings and shifting.

David & Igor Oistrakh-J.S. Bach Double Concerto mvmts 2 & 3:
So beautiful and romantic, I feel like I am in heaven when I see and hear this. Not much more needs to be said.

Ricci-Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto mvmt 3:
I really enjoyed this, Ricci plays really great here. I can't help but to wonder how good he was when he was a child. Some of Ricci's recent recordings reveal poor intontion but not here, truly a fantastic performance. I respect Ricci for daring to play what very few do, of course he was the first to play all Paganini caprices.

Piatigorsky-Faure Elegie, Saint-Saens Allegro Appassionata:
Piatigorsky toured with Horowitz and Milstein and was one of the best cello soloists the world has known. The Faure is such an emotional composition and is played here with all the necessary beauty and sensitivity that is required, it does things to me that I can't explain. The Saint Saens is a real show off piece so the two show a talent of great sensitivity and feeling and the ability to display chops with subtance, Bravo!

Amazon.com

Bruno Monsaingeon's David Oistrakh: Artist of the People? is a probing portrait of perhaps the most thought-provoking of modern violin virtuosos, and a good companion to his similarly revealing documentary on pianist Sviatoslav Richter. Although conversation with the man himself is minimal (Oistrakh died in 1974), Monsaingeon is able to draw upon the priceless reminiscences of those who worked with him, including his son Igor, conductor Gennady Rozhdestvensky, cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, protégé Gidon Kremer, and the late Yehudi Menuhin: their frank and sincere comments on Soviet society make for sobering listening. Equally importantly, the range of Oistrakh's repertoire is covered, from Bach to Shostakovich, in footage covering half a century of performance. The musicianship and humanity of a life dedicated to music in the face of an often ruthless establishment is powerfully and movingly evoked. This is a documentary that no one interested in great music-making or 20th-century culture should miss. --Richard Whitehouse

Customer Reviews:

* * * 1/2 Monsaingeon rambles, but Oistrakh is fascinating nonetheless.......2006-11-02

This documentary highlights both the strengths and weaknesses of Bruno Monsaingeon. The filmmmaker has the ability to find some amazingly rare archival footage of his subjects--I think for his Richter documentary he tracked down every frame available of the pianist. But his storytelling is often undisciplined and wanders. While this work isn't nearly as sprawling as his epic Richter bio, it still tends to be a bit out of focus, in my opinion. Rather than really talk much about Oistrakh as an artist--his technique, interpretations, ideas, etc.,--it instead spends most of its time dealing with how difficult it was for a Soviet artist to thrive in an oppressive regime. It's interesting material, but I couldn't help feeling that the same exact story could have been told about Rostropovich, Richter, Mravinsky, Kagan, Temirkanov, Gutman, etc. A better title for this DVD might have been "It's Tough To Be An Artist in the USSR."

That isn't to say it's a bad film or you shouldn't watch it. It just felt undisciplined and a little wide of the mark. There's an early bit where two neighbors where Oistrakh used to live argue over who bought him his country house. It's interesting, but Monsaingeon never contextualizes it--it's just presented as two people arguing. This is just one example of how the film, and most of M's films, can often feel like merely a hodge-podge of clips and interviews strung together, interesting in themselves but ultimately not organized into a larger whole by the filmmaker.

In short, why is Oistrakh special? Why do we care about him so much? The film never addresses that.

The interviews are fascinating, however. Now that the iron curtain has been lifted we have a clearer view than before of what former Soviet artists had to go through--a subject that seems to interest Monsaingeon. Rosdestvensky relates how when Oistrakh died, he was abroad but was prevented from staying and conducting memorial concerts for his comrade because his arbitrary 90-day period he could be out of the country was up. You can see he still feels pain and anger over this act.

If you live in North America, this disc, unfortunately, will only work if you have a region-free DVD player. (If you're not sure if you have a region-free DVD player, you almost certainly don't.) And don't even think about playing it in your computer, unless you have the proper hack. (Again, if you're not sure, you don't have it, and even if it plays it will then "lock" your machine onto the new region and you will be unable to play North America DVDs after that. It will not warn you about this; it will just do it.) For some reason most of Monsaingeon's work is not available on region 1 DVD. That's a shame. Overall I recommend this, if you have the right equipment to view it. If not, you may want to search out a VHS version.

Misses the point somewhat, but important for Oistrakh completists.......2006-06-28

The question I always want to ask Bruno Monsaingeon is: Where in God's name does he get all this fantastic footage from? Whether it is the clip of Gitlis play Paganini's "La Campanella" in "Art of the Violin", or the clip of Vaclav Hudecek playing Tchaikovsky's VC in this offering, they are just simply fantastic. But I am digressing here...
What we have here is yet another interesting documentary by Mr. Monsaingeon, but as many other reviewers have said it somewhat misses the point. Is it really the job of artists to be politicians, at the risk of silencing their artistic voice? An artist holds allegiance to one thing above all: his/her artistry. It just so happens that Oistrakh WAS a tool of Soviet propaganda, whether in his performances or his teaching, and yes he was constantly being exploited, but he acted as honorably as he could in the face of overwhelmingly bad circumstances. Just listen to what Menuhin says of Oistrakh's reponse to the question of defection. That alone answers questions about the man's integrity.
But a review must tackle the "meat and potatoes" question: Is this a good documentary? In a word, yes. Whether or not the question about Oistrakh's character should have been asked in the first place is another matter for another day, but one cannot deny that this is a well-researched, slickly produced documentary featuring some of the hardest to find footage of Oistrakh. Alongside Paul Cohen's superlative "The Winners", it ranks as one of my favorite musical documentaries.

What are we talking about: music or politics?.......2002-06-05

Here we have most probably one of the three greatest violinists of the 20th Century - and what are our reviewers write about? Stalin, Zhdanov, Commusnists, KGB... This stuff is dead and gone some 12 years ago, but THE MUSIC and THE ARTISTRY of this great man will live forever! So, let's concentrate and share our views on Oistrakh as a great musician - which he really was! -let's enjoy his great music, and let's forget about those scoundrels which will be remembered in future ONLY because they happened to live at the same time and place with Oistrakh, Kogan, Richter, Gilels, Shafran, Sofronitsky, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Khachaturian and others GREAT Russian musicians.

Has high moments, wonderful performances.......2001-07-04

In the face of power, the tyranny of a corrupt regime, what is a musician to do when his life is dependent upon it for survival, It is far to facile for Yehudi Menuhin to fault Oistrakh's lack of courage in the face of the Stalinist/Zhadnov Kultura regime, Menuhin sitting comfortably in his posh London flat,what does he know of Oistrakh's struggles,nothing. Yet Menuhin had brokered Oistrakh's appearance in England, a coup that he would have informed the press of the Soviet tyranny had they not allowed him out of Mother Russia. This other installment by Bruce Monsaindeon is not as interesting as the Richter film, there the vintage footage was breathtaking spanning Richter's entire career. Was it the KGB who followed him with a camera?,with such intimate situations,even funerals,tours, and film appearances. Here in the Oistrakh there are also great moments, as now older with jowls and a "grosse bauch" mid section, the ultimate power of his playing, here the excerpt is the Cadenza in the Violin Concerto in A minor, of friend Dmitri Shostakovich. There is also vintage humiliating like performaces from the Thirties Oistrakh playing in one of these Russian Stalinist Odes to the Leader,with many Harps and Flowers, the spectacle of the Dialectic. But Oistrakh's powerful interpretations, the massive sound,conviction he summoned from this tiny box with strings running on its top is/was astonishing. There's also a touching tribute by Rostropovich where Oistrakh was compelled to renounce him(ficticiously Purge Trial mentality-like), for the apparent defection, a luxury not all Soviet artists managed during their careers. Gidon Kremer reflects surprisingly perceptively on Oistrakh's meaning to violinists of his generation as well as Igor, Oistrakh's musician son.

Political midget, musical giant.......1999-06-09

Monsaingeon's Oistrakh film is indeed puzzling. Likewise the companion Richter tape, the musical contents of this TV-derived programme presents the viewer with stunning performances (excerpts only, though), both of chamber and of symphonic music, that amply secure Oistrakh's place amongst the really key violinists of the century. Yet more so than in the Richter tape, Monsaingeon also opts for stressing the man's lack of fortitude before the USSR's communist bosses, picturing him as a weak character who hid behind his music-making and looked the other way whilst enjoying the favourable status his condition as "Artist of the People of the USSR" gave him during much of the Stalin reign, one of the darkest periods of European history, and those of his successors, much like what has amply been discussed regarding similar stances in musicians like Wilhelm Furtwängler, Herbert von Karajan, Karl Böhm or Richard Strauss during the nazi regime in Germany, or of other artists who cynically profited from a favoured position in totalitarian states in order to advance in their life (Dalí's flirtations with the Franco regime in Spain comes to mind, as well as Respighi's with the Mussolini Government and Karajan's with Hitler's). Oistrakh's lack of political courage, or perhaps his failure to defect to the West as commented by Menuhin in one of the programme's interviews, may well be deservedly criticisable, as well as his meek acceptance of the exploitation of which he was the subject by his government, be it economical (as the lion's share of his income from tours to the West was snatched from him by the Soviet authorities), political (as a sample of the Soviet regime's purported superiority in catering to the spiritual needs of its citizens) or as a propaganda vehicle (as in one of the film's initial sequences, probably one of the corniest ever filmed anywhere, the crème de la crème of soviet string players gather in an early Technicolour-washed strings-only adaptation of one of Rachmaninov's préludes from his Op.23), but I'd say that Monsaingeon's exaggerate concentration on that sad facet of this giant of a musician's personality ultimaltely proves the weak spot of the film. David Oistrakh may have been something of a midget politically speaking, but when he died in an Amsterdam hotel in 1974 the world lost a giant of a musician, and it is precisely his musical legacy what in the end solidly keeps him in a privileged place our memory and not anything else.

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