This disc offers a convenient way to acquire all three of these excellent Barber concertos, even though, as in the case of the works for violin and piano, there are slightly better options available individually. Kyoko Takezawa tackles the Violin Concerto very sympathetically, with singing tone and plenty of bravura in the finale, but at times her vibrato strikes me as a bit too sweet in the first movement, and her dynamic range is just a little bit restricted. In short, it’s a modest performance, and there’s nothing wrong with that save for the fact that others are less so. Steven Isserlis makes the Cello Concerto’s enormous difficulties seem easy, and Slatkin’s handling of the orchestral part is second to none. Aside from some performance noises from the soloist, perhaps the result of too-close microphone placement, there are no weak spots at all. It’s just a shame that the work itself lacks the Violin Concerto’s lyricism or the Piano Concerto’s bravura.
Speaking of which, the collaboration of John Browning and George Szell (Sony) remains unbeatable in its savage virtuosity, particularly in the finale, and while this one with Slatkin is very good, side by side comparison speaks for itself. The Szell version, however, remains difficult to find, and again there’s little to criticize here in terms of basic musical values–all of which adds up to a very good disc taken as a whole, and an economical choice for collectors wanting high quality at low cost.
