This is the finest recording of Mendelssohn's E minor Violin Concerto to come my way in more than a decade.
That was in 1984, and the one that charmed me so then was Cho-Liang Lin's, on CBS. But if anything the young Japanese violinist Kyoko Takazawa's is even more beguiling in its unforced musicality and intimacy of detail.Indeed the very opening, as recorded here, is almost too soft. But one soon becomes aware of her technical facility and youthful brilliance in an interpretation that remains always fresh, always inviting.
At the same time she is not afraid to savor some of the concerto's lovelier episodes - for example, the slow movement, which here unfolds inwardly yet naturally. Even the finale seems less hurried than usual, with an almost feminine bloom to the sound, aided by Claus Peter Flor's expertly molded accompaniment.
The most direct competition in this coupling is Viktoria Mullova, whose 1991 Philips CD likewise pairs the E minor Concerto with the youthful D minor Concerto for Violin and Strings. (Mendelssohn was 13 when he wrote it.)
In each her performances are fuller in sound and a shade more extroverted in conception and execution, with equally sympathetic support from conductor Neville Marriner. The finales are particularly brilliant.
In every other way, though, it is Takezawa who does a better job of linking these two works, via an account of the D minor Concerto that likewise stresses its youthfulness and intimacy. Witness the quietly seductive slow movement, here lovingly ornamented, and her more playful treatment of the gypsy-flavored finale, less consciously virtuosic yet communicating both more substance and a greater sense of fun.
A splendid issue.