What we have here is yet one more violin recital of mostly unbelievably familiar repertoire. It has incredibly difficult pieces by Sarasate and Wieniawski. It has exceedingly difficult pieces by Ysaÿe and
Kreisler. It has exceptionally lovely arrangements of
Rachmaninov's Vocalise and 18th Variation. It even has an extraordinarily touching arrangement of
Williams' theme from Schindler's List. With a few additions and subtractions, this recital has appeared many, many times on recordings of one form of another since there have been recordings.
There are only two differences. First,
Maxim Vengerov is an astoundingly fine violinist with limitless technique, endless tone, and bottomless soul. In this recital, every piece is performed as well or better than the best performances in the history of recordings. Second, EMI has recorded
Vengerov in sound of unimaginable presence and immediacy. In this recording,
Vengerov and pianist
Ian Brown sound as real as air and light. While there have been innumerable recordings of most of these works, this recording deserves to be heard.