In terms of
performances of music that have been captured and recorded for
posterity, it is almost impossible to refer to “the best”
performance of any given work. There may be a few exceptions: perhaps
Tosca in 1953 with Vittorio di Sabata conducting Maria Callas,
Tito Gobbi, and Giuseppe di Stefano. Perhaps Tristan and Isolde
in 1952 with Furtwängler conducting Kirsten Flagstad and Ludwig
Suthaus. Perhaps even the Bach “48” recorded by Edwin
Fischer in the mid- 1930s. But rather than stick ones neck out for
“the best”, it is usually wiser to talk of “among a handful of
the best”.
Apart from a grand
piano, a solo violin is one of the most expressive solo instruments,
but its range and dynamics cannot compete with those of a symphony
orchestra, a string quartet, or a grand piano. To sustain a
listener's interest over 30 or 60 minutes of playing demands a solo
violinist of real expertise in mixing sounds and dynamics. I enthused
recently over Antje Weithaas playing the solo violin music of
Bach and of Eugène Ysaÿe. I have now added her Volume 1 to my
collection, and only await Volume 2 which is somewhere in the order
process. This additional volume confirms my initial reaction to Ms
Weithaas; her playing really sustains my interest from beginning to
end and she achieves this with a fascinating mixture of bowing,
dynamics and timbre. In solo Bach and Ysaÿe, Ms Weithaas is
certainly “among a handful of the best”, a handful that includes
Alina Ibragimova and, for Bach, Heifetz and Milstein.
On the subject of “the
best”, I thoroughly agree with this quote from Otto Klemperer:
'For me, Bach's B minor Mass is the greatest and most unique music
ever written'. I have just re-listened to the work. Yes, it is the
greatest. And yes, it is unique. How a provincial German leading a
very ordinary life came to write such music is one of life's
mysteries.
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