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Performers: Aaron Rosand with the Luxembourg Radio/Television Symphony Orchestra, Louis de Froment conducting.
“Rosand has hardly ever been out of the record collecting public's eye. Because he has been very much a Vox and Turabout artist his name has lodged with great affection with those whose record and CD collecting began at the budget end. Rosand is however a premium artist at the budget end of the market. He has made more enduring friends for far longer than many a glistening wunderkind of the premium shelves.
“I first came across Rosand through his ravishing and still unmatched recording of the Sibelius Humoresques on a Turnabout LP (more of that elsewhere)...
“This present collection is generously timed and mixes familiar and rare. Speaking of which the Arensky is a work of slippery mercurial romance leaning deep into the territory of both Mendelssohn and the syrupy Korngold concerto without the Korngold's OTT sentimental indulgence. That said the tunes in the Arensky are not as memorably sculpted as the Korngold. The music clearly suits Rosand who is no stranger to the idiom. The only blemish on the brief Arensky is a very subtle metallic 'halo' on the solo violin. This is absent from the other two works.
“The other two works are well loved warhorses but there is no suggestion of tiredness in the performances which are dashing and impetuous. It does not displace my reference version (the BMG-Meloditya Oistrakh conducted by Rozhdestvensky) but the Rosand flies along with pushy élan and much freshly conceived accenting as at 2.10 in the finale.
“The Mendelssohn (an influence on the Arensky) is a surprisingly emotional and passionate work for 1845 - with many of the same stylistic streams as the Tchaikovsky. Rosand does not dawdle and as in the Tchaikovsky it is the impetuous rather than the reflective that carries the day. My preference is for the sumptuous Campoli recording on Beulah but this is distinctive and rewardingly listenable.
“Good notes and healthy 1970s sound with a natural emphasis on the soloist. There is some negligible roughness in the orchestra (e.g. horns in first movement of the Mendelssohn) but nothing to take the honey-glaze off these top-flight performances by a craftsman of the emotions. The coupling is extremely generous. Rosand's integrity stares out unblinkingly from every bar.” FOUR STARS
Review copyright © 2000 Rob Barnett, Editor, Classical Music on the Web. Reprinted with permission.
1 Compact Disc: 76:01,VOX 7211, 1999 
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