Wieniawski: Scherzo-Tarantelle in G minor, Op. 16

“His sell-out return to Wigmore Hall in April last year was as thrilling as everyone hoped. The evidence is here: opening with Bach's Partita No 2 in D minor for solo violin, the Soviet-born musician combines impeccable technique with a golden, powerful tone, muscular and sturdy but lithe too, without excessive ornament.” The Observer, 3rd February 2013

“Is Vengerov as good as he ever was? Time will tell. His Bach starts off tentative and effortful, before relaxing into the soulful Sarabanda and Ciaccona – the opposite of the fast, flashy style with which he previously dazzled...it’s only in the Wieniawski and Brahms encores that he switches on the gas.” Financial Times, 9th February 2013 ***

“Vengerov opened the recital with Bach’s D minor Partita. In a reading that’s one of the best out there – big-boned, justifiably confident and played with a swagger commensurate with this player’s talent. This is flawless violin playing – the double stops in the Corrente so easily achieved, the fourth movement’s Giga graceful and witty...Essential listening.” The Arts Desk, 16th February 2013

“He takes a while to warm up in the Bach Partita, and the opening Allemanda sounds cautious at first...The great final Chaconne has some awkward moments, not least in pacing and tonal firmness, though there are magical changes of colour. In the Beethoven there's more consistency...I imagine this was a thrilling concert.” BBC Music Magazine, March 2013 ***

“The playing throughout this disc is vastly sinuous; and though this may not be a seismic shift from his previous style, there is still a sense that he's shed the need to sound merely pretty in order to get closer to the scale and importance of the music.” Gramophone Magazine, March 2013

“the technical perfection he displays in is performance of Bach’s Second Partita surpasses most of those set down in the studio.” The Strad, April 2013

“The transfer to CD of this early seventies recording is every bit as satisfying as that on the comparably magical Paganini recording reviewed on page 1222. Hearing these two recordings, both over ten years old, next to Perlman's Philadelphia recording of the Tchaikovsky (reviewed on page 1228), brings it home how, with analogue recording in the seventies, good engineering in a sympathetic venue was of vital importance in conveying realism. Like the Paganini this brings rich, full sound immediate and real, firm in perspective against an open, believable acoustic, all to the credit of Suvi Raj Grubb as producer and Bob Gooch as engineer. The version of No. 2 which Perlman recorded in Paris ten years later for DG is less sympathetic to my ear for all its brilliance in both sound and performance. It can be reasonably recommended if you want the Saint-Saens coupling, but for an apter coupling in a performance even more winning I would opt for the EMI disc with no feeling of losing out on quality of sound, rather the opposite.” Gramophone Magazine

“Perlman gives scintillating performances, full of flair, and is excellently accompanied, The recordings, from 1973, is warm, vivid and well balanced.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition

“exactly the right balance of virtuosity and taste... smouldering intensity, darkly brooding and intense... quite possibly the best performance available [of Schelomo]” Classics Today

“A violinist at the height of her powers, in performances that are affectionate, powerful, playful or virtuosic, as the music requires. Especially attractive are the many Kreisler originals or arrangements.” BBC Music Magazine, September 2011 *****