Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Antonio Vivaldi
Performer: Isaac Stern, Pinchas Zukerman, Shlomo Mintz, Itzhak Perlman, Ivry Gitlis, Ida Haendel, Pinchas Zukerman
Orchestra: Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Zubin Mehta
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Catalogue: ELQ4822728
Release: 2015
Size: 489 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons: Spring, RV269
01. 1. Allegro
02. 2. Largo
03. 3. Allegro (Danza pastorale)
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons: Summer, RV315
04. 1. Allegro non molto – Allegro
05. 2. Adagio – Presto – Adagio
06. 3. Presto (Tempo impetuoso d’estate)
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons: Autumn, RV.293
07. 1. Allegro (Ballo, e canto de’ villanelli)
08. 2. Adagio molto (Ubriachi dormienti)
09. 3. Allegro (La caccia)
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons: Winter, RV297
10. 1. Allegro non molto
11. 2. Largo
12. 3. Allegro
Bach: Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, BWV1043
13. 1. Vivace
14. 2. Largo ma non tanto
15. 3. Allegro
Vivaldi: Concerto in B Minor, RV 580
16. 1. Allegro
17. 2. Largo – Larghetto – Largo
18. 3. Allegro
Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola & Orchestra in E flat major, K364
19. 1. Allegro maestoso
20. 2. Andante
21. 3. Presto
An extraordinary galaxy of violinists came together in Tel Aviv in December 1982, for a week of concerts to celebrate the life and vision of Bronislaw Huberman. He was the great Polish violinist, born in 1882, whose Pan-European political beliefs were deeply affronted by the rise of the Nazis in Germany. He spent much of the 1930s trying to get Jewish musicians out of the clutches of Adolf Hitler, and in 1936 his efforts resulted in the founding of the Palestine Orchestra, which in 1948 became the Israel Philharmonic. Despite being involved in a terrible air crash which might have ended his career, Huberman continued to work on behalf of the orchestra until his death in 1947.
For the Huberman Festival, the Israel Philharmonic’s Indian-born chief conductor Zubin Mehta brought together Isaac Stern, Ida Haendel, Itzhak Perlman, Ivry Gitlis, Henryk Szeryng, Pinchas Zukerman and Shlomo Mintz. Four of the violinists each played a ‘season’ comprising Vivaldi’s four concertos ‘The Four Seasons’. A Concerto Grosso for Four Violins (Stern, Gitlis, Haendel, Mintz) and Bach’s ‘Double’ Concerto (Stern, Mintz)
As Tully Potter notes in his commentary for this release, ‘the great virtue of the 1982 Tel Aviv performances is that they feature artists who feel at home with the Israeli orchestra and audience and have nothing to prove: they can simply get on with it and make good music’.