April 22: Violin Concertos, Double Concerto BWV 1041-3 (Isaac Stern, Itzhak Perlman; New York Philharmonic, English Chamber Orchestra)

A true desert island disc.

Fresh off our look at Bach’s perhaps overblown adaptations of his own Violin Concertos, let’s dig into the primary sources, which are among the pinnacles of Western music. No time like the present! (What if I drop dead before writing about the Violin Concertos, I thought to myself as I was preparing to read the story of Exodus at our family’s Passover table. Nota bene: I’m in good health, and yes I’m saving the Chaconne for last, stick with me.)

We’ll be listening to the great Isaac Stern’s performances of Bach’s two Violin Concertos and the Double Violin Concerto with the NY Philharmonic and the English Chamber Orchestra from 1967 and 1981. I’ve enjoyed this compilation for a few decades, but apparently it’s been mothballed by Sony, so much so that this jewel case JPG is the most accessible cover art I could find:

Here’s our star, Isaac. His parents emigrated from Poland in 1921 when Issac was an infant, unknowingly saving all of their lives.

Isaac Stern: a serious man, but look at the glint in his eyes.

Do I love this recording just because it was my first exposure to these monumental pieces? Is this just a default benchmark that is still coloring my ears against superior efforts? Maybe, but this record has always sang to me. Both the NY Phil and the English Chamber Orchestra sound warm, sympathetic, and congenial. The tempi are unrushed, and the soundscapes are enveloping. And I have always heard a majestic ease in Stern’s performances.

I’ve also spent many hours with Hilary Hahn’s performances of these works on Deutsche Grammophon, recorded when she was just 24. She knocks out these pieces with power, precision, intense focus, and virtuosity. She’s cooler than Stern, but not at all cold. If I have to compare apples to apples, Hahn is technically stronger, her backing orchestra more precise and nimble, the sound quality here is tops. (FWIW, Hahn leaves second violinist in the Double Concerto in the dust… you almost feel bad.) There’s nowhere to hide when you play Bach like this, so Jeffrey Kahane must have rehearsed the heck out of the L.A. Chamber Orchestra. It’s an overall superior record.

But I love the Stern recording more.

Hahn, focused and poised, full of life and determination.

This happens a lot!

“Aja” is Steely Dan’s best album, but I love “Katy Lied” more.

Brahms’ Fourth Symphony is his greatest, I love the First more.

“Revolver” is the best Beatles album, I love “Rubber Soul” more.

“Blue” is Joni Mitchell’s best album, and I love it most; “Kind if Blue” is Miles Davis’ best album, and I also love it most, Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony is his greatest, and my favorite of his, too.

Maybe artistic achievements are even more towering when they fully exemplify the artists’ capabilities and are also very easy to love.

Or maybe I find slightly more life in less precision, or I’m attracted to turning-point bursts of creative possibility. Blue, Kind of Blue, Katy Lied, and Rubber Soul are all just a little raw.

There are no real answers, but this is the fun of getting to know yourself. In 2024, I think I have a good handle on why Dave Matthews Band was very important to me only from 1994 to 1999. I also know why I’m writing my Bach blog now that I’m 45. If you allow for it, music can teach you so much about yourself.

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Everyone, just listen to the whole thing on repeat until you’re sick of it. I recommend 100 times. This is one of the few records where my kids say, ‘This one again?’ (Apple Music, Spotify.)

It’s inexhaustible. The compositions capture everything wonderful to be found in Western tonality and harmony. Memorable themes are developed with taste and surprise, and with recapitulations between movements. The pieces themselves are beautifully symmetrical, the emotions run from triumph to melancholy, listlessness and yearning to tranquility and ease. Underneath it all is mystery, something ungraspable.

There’s a lifetime of riches here, a very fair desert island choice for ‘pick one classical music CD’.

There are nine total movements in these three works. Here are nine clips.

The Double Concerto in D Minor, BWV 1043:

The opening theme recapitulated, before Stern and Perlman enter, one on each other’s tail, catching up and receding, singing with each other or dancing alongside:

The middle movement is the best known, a gorgeous adagio, everything in its right place:

In the theme of the third movement, the violins’ interplay brings a sense of urgency.

The A Minor Violin Concerto #1 BWV 1041 begins with a grave but driving theme, and a beautiful big bass underbelly note underlining the seriousness at 0:28.

Compare that more spacious and sad reading to the (excellent but very different) super-tight, Schnell! vibes from Hahn and Kahane. (The big bass note comes in six seconds earlier in this version, and is obviously shorter.):

The second movement features stately strings:

And the final movement is a dance in three, but way too unnerving to waltz to, I love that contrast. Stern gets to lay out and then stamp sweetly into the finish:

Bach stares at you stonefaced and unblinking, and says, “Ich been frohlich,” to start the sorta happy, highly declarative E Major Violin Concerto BWV 1042:

Stern earns his paycheck in the aching second movement:

We conclude with the theme of the third movement and my imploring you to spin this disc and stop listening to my snippets.

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Bonus Bach:

Glittering Icelandic genius Vikingur Olafsson just released a solo piano arrangement of an aria from Cantata BWV 159. It’s too good not to share, despite it being out of context today. This man is a treasure.