Shostakovich composed both his violin concertos for the great David Oistrakh, and Oistrakh’s recordings remain the benchmark against which all others have to be measured. Technically, Christian Tetzlaff’s performances can’t be faulted; there’s an immaculate, cool precision to his playing combined with an utter lack of unnecessary flamboyance or any attempt at attention-seeking, that is hugely impressive. What’s lacking sometimes is a bit of character, something to act as a foil to the rather over-emphatic orchestral writing, as it comes across under John Storgårds. It’s the first concerto that suffers more; though Tetzlaff’s presentation of the passacaglia movement is stoically beautiful, the first movement is less yearning than it can be, the scherzo less demonic. The introspection and sense of personal reminiscence in the Second Concerto, though, is beautifully caught, and its spare orchestration offsets Tetzlaff’s lean tone very effectively. Those who want these concertos in top-quality sound shouldn’t hesitate, but those who want to delve deeper into them should seek out Oistrakh.
