Max Bruch and
Itzhak Perlman were made for each other. Bruch was a third-rate late Romantic with a gift for warm-hearted melodies and rich-toned orchestration that somewhat compensated for his lack of intellectual or emotional profundity.
Perlman is a third-rate violinist with a big tone and a virtuoso technique that sometimes compensates for his lack of intellectual or emotional profundity. In this 1976 recording of the Scottish Fantasy and Violin Concerto in D minor, Bruch meets
Perlman and the matchup is well-neigh ideal.
Perlman's big tone sings in the interminable Adagio ma non troppo that opens the concerto, making its shallow tunes sound almost beautiful, and his technique tears through the extraordinary virtuoso demands of the blustery Allegro molto that closes the concerto, making its gaudy displays sound almost meaningful. And in the Scottish Fantasy,
Perlman's big tone and wide vibrato matches Bruch's warm-hearted but shallow melodies, and his effortless virtuosity matches Bruch's effective but superficial emotionalism. While
Perlman's playing is wholly inappropriate for Brahms' intellectually and emotionally profound music, in Bruch's shallow and sentimental music,
Perlman has found the perfect vehicle.
Jesús López-Cobos isn't much of a conductor in Bruckner or
Mahler, but he's fine for Bruch. The
New Philharmonia in the mid-'70s wasn't up to Brahms or Wagner, but it is adequate for Bruch. EMI's stereo sound is the best part of the whole production: clear, warm, and immediate.