January 5, 2011

  • Review: Isaac Stern-Keeping the Doors Open

    Isaac Stern--Keeping the Doors open (Mendelssohn/Tchaikovsky)
    Isaac Stern, violin. Israel Philharmonic Orchestra/Leonard Bernstein (Mendelssohn)
    Isaac Stern, vn. Mstislav Rostropovich, c., Vladimir Horowitz, pn.
    Sony Classical 88697 75347 2
    Recording:   ****/****
    Performance: ****/****

    Sometimes one receives a disc for review and it is hard not to be both excited and confused.  Such is the case with this new Sony Classical release featuring an historic performance by Isaac Stern.  Keeping the Doors Open is a reference to Isaac Stern's involvement in saving Carnegie Hall back in the 1950s when Lincoln Center was completed and the historic hall was in desperate need of repair.  The release comes in time to commenorate Stern's 90th birthday and intends to honor his involvement with the renovation of Carnegie Hall.

    To that end, we get a live recorded performance of Stern performing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in e with Leonard Bernstein and the Israel Philharmonic.  The recording comes from concerts in Tel Aviv.  The standard repertoire work was oft-performed by Stern in Carnegie Hall, he just never got around to recording it in that venue.  While it is great to have Stern's performance of this warhorse available, it seems a weak thread to connect this to the fact that the Israel Philharmonic once played this piece in Carnegie Hall with Stern.

    That said, this performance was recorded one month after the end of the Six-Day War and the energy and joy is ever present in this recording.  The orchestra responds well to Bernstein's direction which is fairly straight-forward and minus what could at times be unusually dramatic readings.  A straight accompaniment to the Mendelssohn is spot on for Stern's impeccable performance here that feels as if he could play this work in his sleep and convince us that we had never heard it before.  The acoustic is a bit dry and takes some getting used to at first, but the result is a crystal clear performance that is one of the finest in the catalogue.

    Whoever produced the CD still must labor under the impression that they can only hold as much music as a 1970s era LP.  The "filler" is the first movement of Tchaikovsky's Piano Trio in a, Op. 50 in what is probably one of the best peformances ever recorded.  Newer fans of classical music may not recall just what a powerhouse existed on the stage of Carnegie Hall when Stern, Mstislav Rostropovich and Vladimir Horowitz recorded this work.  Three of the 20th century's finest musicians provide here such commitment to this work that one is reminded just how intense listening to classical music could be.  The recording is taken from the "Concert of the Century" in 1976 which commemorated the hall's 85th Anniversary.

    So, the recording can be recommended simply at the calibre of its musicmaking.  The CD booklet spends its time recounting Stern's involvement in saving Carnegie Hall.