The scruffing and scratching sounds heard at the start of the Violin Concerto (indicating an inferior transfer source) don’t bode well for a pleasant audio experience, but they soon fade. And happily so, for David Oistrakh turns in a riveting account, with imposing, muscular playing tempered by an acute sensitivity to the music’s melodic beauty. Attacks are razor sharp, intonation is dead-on, notwithstanding the occasional misaligned double-stop in this vibrant live performance. Conductor Antonio Pedrotti matches Oistrakh’s energy with his own, leading the Czech Philharmonic in a stirring accompaniment.
Sonically, the Fourth Symphony gets off to an even more troubling start, with inner-groove distortion imparting a ghostly pre-echo to the opening bars. But again, this is only temporary, and we’re soon free to enjoy Pedrotti and the Czech players’ taut, dramatic rendition. Pedrotti keeps tempos flowing and accents pointed as he builds tension throughout the first movement, culminating in an especially powerful conclusion. The rest of the symphony continues in this manner, although there’s a noticeable fall-off in intensity in the finale. Once past the trouble spots mentioned above, the recording provides fairly decent, if a touch reverberant, mono sound–which should be enough to satisfy Oistrakh fans and followers of the Czech Philharmonic.
