These classic recordings need little comment from me on artistic grounds. Heifetz’s account of the Mendelssohn never has been bettered for sheer dazzling virtuosity, and although the Beethoven is more controversial (some find it “cold”), I love its unaffected, truly classical purity. Besides, you also get Munch and the Boston Symphony, no mean bonus. It’s interesting to compare the two performances in multichannel sound, since the Beethoven is two-track, while the Mendelssohn offers three. I have to say that I greatly prefer both regular stereo and the two-track SACD, which place Heifetz more naturally on the soundstage. In the Mendelssohn, he’s too prominently in the center channel, and some of the more involving interaction between soloist and orchestra (in the finale, primarily) suffers as a result. This may all sound different on other equipment, of course, but what isn’t in dispute is the excellence of the performances themselves.
