Beyond all doubt,
Kyung-Wha Chung is one of the greatest living violinists. She has an extraordinary talent, an extreme technique, an exquisite temperament, and, above all, excellent taste. And yet, for a violinist of her stature,
Chung has often been saddled in recordings with lesser conductors who don't match her talent, her technique, or her temperament, much less her taste. Take this disc joining
Chung's 1988 recordings of
Dvorák's Violin Concerto and Romance with
Riccardo Muti leading the
Philadelphia and her 1992 recordings of
Bartók's Two Rhapsodies for violin and orchestra with
Simon Rattle leading the
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. While
Chung's
Dvorák has the freshness and enthusiasm of the great Bohemian composer,
Muti and the
Philadelphia's
Dvorák has the weight and gravity of
Brahms,
Dvorák's Viennese contemporary, and the combination is like watching an overweight old man dance with a lithe young girl. And while
Chung's
Bartók has the color and energy of the great Hungarian composer,
Rattle and the
City of Birmingham's
Bartók has the angst and anxiety of
Schoenberg,
Bartók's Viennese contemporary, and the combination is like watching an overwrought old woman dance with a blithe young man. With more sympathetic conductors,
Chung's performances might have been among the best performances of these works. With
Muti and
Rattle on the podium, however,
Chung's performances are at best sad and at worst pathetic. EMI's later digital sound is cool, clean, and clear.