| Review by Daland November 5, 2004 (6 of 7 found this review helpful)
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Performance:  Sonics: |
| A first-class recording that apart from the well-known Sibelius concerto contains neglected pieces worth discovering. The tonal quality is excellent. I would rate this as one of the best SACDs to be released by Naxos. It really fills the whole room with spectacular sound, and the balance between solo instrument and orchestra is well managed. My impression has been that the violin sound is more natural than on many other SACDs (even on SACD it seems rather difficult to reproduce the rich tone of a solo violin realistically). The performers are not particularly well known, but can hold their own against more familiar names.
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| Review by eleeathome December 10, 2004 (1 of 3 found this review helpful)
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Performance:  Sonics: |
| I really like the sound of the volin in this recording. This is a nice surprise. The reason might be Kraggerud performs on the "Guarneri del Gesu Ole Bull" violin (1744) provided by a foundation in Taiwan and with Ole Bull's only existing bow(provided by the anonymous owner). I got the DVD-audio version instead of SACD.
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| Review by mukkachukka January 18, 2005 (2 of 4 found this review helpful)
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Performance:  Sonics: |
| Truthfully, I'm not the world's biggest classical music fan. But I do love most of the works of RVW, Sibelius, Nielsen, Stravinsky, and Beethoven. So when looking for a good SACD of the Sibelius Violin Concerto I browsed the reviews and saw the 5-star reviews for this recording. So I bought it. Put it in the player expecting to be blown away. And.....what a disappointment. Admittedly, I have only 5 classical SACDs and the rest are all by Telarc. So I guess I shouldn't have expected sonics like on the Telarc Stravinsky/Nielsen SACD. Not that this is a horrible performance or recording, it just sounds average to my ears. Maybe the Living Stereo Sibelius Violin Concerto SACD will be better....
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| Review by ritournel February 8, 2005 (6 of 6 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics: |
| I have to disagree with Mukkachukka about this SACD. Listening to the stereo track is an every day pleasure and I found this recording more attractive than the one featuring Akiko Suwanai (at least to my taste). The sound is rich, strong and subtle, the stage is well sized and the interpretation is really beautiful. The performers are probably more known in europe but they belong to upper class. You will get lots of excellent music for the money. This record fully deserves the SACD logo. Regarding rewamped old living stereo recordings, they have unequal sound quality, sometimes quite far from this one. I am not sure that these reissues are the best way to promote SACD and talented artists (IMHO).
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| Review by mandel February 20, 2005 (7 of 8 found this review helpful)
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The main feature on this disc for most people will be the Sibelius - Violin Concerto in D minor. I used a Karajan - Berlin Philharmonic recording for comparison. Unlike Karajans rather turgid interpretation this has a lot of energy and passion, both in the orchestra and in the solo violin. The solo violin playing is particularly noteworthy for the volume of feeling Kraggerud puts into it. You sense that he is really trying get the maximum out of every single note. This is helped by him playing on the 'Ole Bull' violin which has glorious depth to it.
As for the rest of the disc... The Serenade is another lovely Sibelius piece. The Sinding Concerto is bright and energetic, almost sounds like three Overtures. The Romance is good also, all stand up well to repeated listening.
Sonics: 5.0 with heavy use of the centre channel (which I should note sounds in no way artificial). Everything integrates very well with a good balance between the soloist and the orchestra. A nice soundstage and fitting acoustics. The solo violin is reproduced better than any SACD I have heard yet. If I was forced to make a criticism it'd be that the orchestra is perhaps a little too close.
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