Itzhak Perlman’s late-1960s RCA recordings, made with an ever supportive Erich Leinsdorf, capture the violinist at the beginning of his career, when his confidence, bravura, and overall beguiling sweetness of tone already were clearly in evidence. In the Tchaikovsky, as in his later performances, Perlman tempers his instincts for virtuoso showmanship with poise and musical sensitivity, communicating his genuine love for the score. He’s slightly more rambunctious in this earlier version, resulting in occasionally less than dead-on intonation in rapid passages, but many will prefer the excitement.
The Sibelius performance features many of the same attributes. Here Perlman adopts a sinewy tone that becomes impressively darker, as the music demands. It’s an energized and finely executed performance, even though Perlman’s interpretation would become more refined and his tone more ethereally beautiful in his later recording with Previn. Still, one advantage of the RCA sessions is that Perlman is somewhat better integrated with the orchestra than on the violin-dominated EMI recordings (though it’s still not truly a natural sounding balance). At any rate, this new release is a great way to hear a world-class violinist in two repertory staples on one mid-price disc. [5/17/2004]
