Igor Oistrakh – like father – like son.
Igor Oistrakh with Zubin Mehta and The Los Angeles Philharmonic this week. Another historic concert, this one featuring the legendary Igor Oistrakh, son of the equally-if-not-more-legendary David Oistrakh, in a concert featuring only two works; the 1stViolin Concerto by Dmitri Shostakovich and the 2nd Symphony of Johannes Brahms.
Certainly a concert of contrasts, and even though the Brahms Symphony is such a standard in orchestral repertoire that it goes beyond the meat-and-potatoes classification to an almost obligatory performance by every orchestra at least once each season. However, this particular reading by Zubin Mehta and the Band from L.A. shows you can teach an old dog new tricks – and the audience doesn’t even wait for the last note to dissipate before they jump up and loudly roar their approval.
And Oistrakh’s handling of the Shostakovich gives further evidence the fruit didn’t fall far from the tree. Father and son often performed together over the years – and they gained such an indelible reputation on the concert stage and in recordings that an asteroid has been named after them. Needless to say, they have hit on immortality – and for good reason.
Part of the 1975-1976 season of the orchestra this broadcast was part of the sporadic tenure the L.A. Phil. enjoyed with Pacifica station KPFK. Sadly, most of the masters for these concerts have been destroyed in what has been known as KPFK’s then-reputation for recycling everything. A few concerts have survived, by way of airchecks or engineers keeping copies for themselves. But the bulk of performances from the late 1960s and early 1970s are confined to the stuff of legend and have no way of proving themselves otherwise.
In any event, a rather short concert consisting of only two pieces, but one of historic importance that goes wonderfully well with mid-week Anti-Road Rage.
Enjoy and come back next – I’m sure it will be something interesting then too.
The post Igor Oistrakh And Zubin Mehta With The L.A. Philharmonic Play Music Of Shostakovich And Brahms – 1975 – Past Daily Mid-Week Concert appeared first on Past Daily.