Oistrakh Brahms : Violin Concerto, Mozart : Sinfonia Concertante, J.S.Bach (1961, 63)

Bach: Double Violin Concerto in D minor
David Oistrakh, violin
English Chamber Orchestra / Colin Davis, conductor
(23 September 1962, Royal Albert Hall)

Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante, K. 364
Igor Oistrakh, violin / David Oistrakh, viola
Moscow Philharmonic / Yehudi Menuhin, conductor
(1 October 1963, Royal Albert Hall)

Brahms: Violin Concerto in D major, Op.77
David Oistrakh, violin
Moscow Philharmonic / Kirill Kondrashin, conductor
(24 September 1963, Royal Festival Hall)

This programme introduces David Oistrakh not just as violinist, but also as father and friend in the performances of the Bach Double Concerto and Mozart Sinfonia concertante with his son, Igor.
This pairing is said to have been David Oistrakh’s favourite performance partnership. The performance of the Bach concerto is one of the Oistrakhs’ best readings of the work . it formed their first foreign engagement as a duo, with the Festival Hall concert beginning the 1961 tour.
The performance of the Mozart Sinfonia concertante at the Royal Albert Hall was sold out (this tour was said to be only the second occasion that David Oistrakh had played the
viola in forty years). This performance is a wonderful combination with Menuhin conducting Oistrakh in a work that he himself had recently recorded with Rudolf Barshai (the second half of this concert saw Oistrakh conducting Menuhin in the Beethoven Concerto).
Kondrashin was renowned as a concerto accompanist, and demonstrates his immense control and expressive technique in the Brahms performance. He was also one of David Oistrakh’s favourite conductors.

Reviews of Oistrakh’s audio recordings:
“Oistrakh sounds superbly poised and confident” (Brahms Concerto on EMI . Penguin Guide)
“This is great violin playing: Oistrakh is on superb form, playing with his customary
warmth…fiddle buffs will need no prompting” (audio recording of the Brahms Concerto on BBC Legends . review from the Gramophone)
“David Oistrakh's playing is peerless. In Bach's Double Concerto father and son are suitably contrasted in timbre, and the performance of the great slow movement is Elysian.” (Audio recording on Deutsche Grammophon) ( ICA Classics )