Leonid Kogan - Elisabeth Gilels - Brahms Violin Concerto - Philharmonia Orchestra - Kiril Kondrashin - Tower - Definition Series TDSA 58/9 (2017)
2x SACD rips via PS3 to 2x iso (5.23GB) | 2ch Hybrid | DR14&13 | Previously Warner WQGC-71/2 | Classical

Of the legion of superb musicians out of Soviet Russia, Ukrainian violinist Leonid Kogan (1924-1982) remains notable for his immaculate skill & natural, patrician bearing & nobility of line. An unabashed admirer of Jascha Heifetz, Kogan consciously attempted to recreate that peerless master's style, insisting on playing on all 4 steel strings.  While this approach did not yield particularly “flexible” results, the intense power of expression & brilliant resonance became as identifiable a trademark for Kogan as a burnished tone defined a Heifetz interpretation.

The audio restoration by Peter Reynolds casts a particularly fine edge on the Brahms Concerto, a broadly sumptuous reading that achieves the colossal girth we associate with the Oistrakh-Klemperer & Milstein-Jochum readings. Kogan had made his Moscow debut in 1941 with the Brahms Concerto under Alexander Gauk; & when Soviet-American politics permitted a thaw for classical music in otherwise Cold War relations, Kogan recorded the work in London as part of his Western tours between 1955-1959.

Typical of the Philharmonia Orchestra’s period recordings – even given the untimely passing of French horn master Dennis Brain – the acuity & response of the string, wind, tympani, & brass sections proves eminently clear & rife with nuance. Kogan’s attacks, often rasping & driven, urge the musical line forward, yet his soft passages never want sympathy or natural, breathed phrasing. The orchestral tuttis prove as monumentally compelling as Kogan’s taut & sinewy contribution. The oboe contribution in the Adagio (Leon Goossens?) sails mellifluously, complementing Kogan’s ardent cantilena in marvelous harmony. The stinging gypsy Rondo compels our attention from the opening flurry, & the intensity only needs our audience to make the dramatic closure complete.

Another version on Qobuz might interest some: https://www.qobuz.com/au-en/album/violin-masterpieces-leonid-kogan-plays-lalo-brahms-tchaikovsky-remastered-2017-kirill-kondrashin-philharmonia-orchestra-leonid-kogan/4040741014085

    Tracks:

(Leonid Kogan: violin)
Brahms -Violin Concerto In D, Op. 77
1-1-Allegro Non Troppo	
1-2-Adagio	
1-3-Allegro Giocoso
	
Lalo - Symphonie Espagnole, Op. 21
1-4-Allegro Non Troppo	
1-5-Scherzando (Allegro Molto)	
1-6-Intermezzo (Allegro Non Troppo)	
1-7-Andante	
1-8-Rondo (Allegro)

2-01-Tchaikovsky - Sérénade Mélancolique, Op. 26

Leclair - Sonata No 3 In C, Op. 3-3
2-02-Adagio—Vivace	
2-03-Adagio	
2-04-Allegro

Leclair - Sonata No 1 In G, Op. 3-1
2-05-Allegro	
2-06-Allegro Ma Poco	
2-07-Allegro

Telemann - Sonata No 1 In G, Op. 5-1
2-08-Vivace	
2-09-Adagio	
2-10-Allegro

(Violin: Elisabeth Gilels)
Ysaye - Sonata For 2 Violins In A Minor 

2-11-Poco Lento Maestoso—Quasi Moderato	
2-12-Allegretto Poco Lento	
2-13-Allegro Vivo E Con Fuoco—Moderato Amabile

Producers: Walter Legge & Walter Jellinek

Recorded at Abbey Road studio No1:
Balance engineer: Neville Boyling
Disc1: 1959 February 22-26 Tracks 1-3, February 25-27 Tracks 4-8, 
Disc2: 1959 February 25-27 Track 1, 1963 May 25 Tracks 2-7, May 26 Tracks 8-10, March 14 Tracks 11-13.

https://www.discogs.com/Brahms-Leonid-Kogan-Philharmonia-Orchestra-Kyril-Kondrashin-Violin-Concerto-Symphonie-Espagnole/release/16573488


https://www.filefactory.com/folder/d4ad041096850eeb
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Checksums for the 2x SACD iso:
MD5: 6945ab2765b769c3393b4c6b1654b618 *Leonid Kogan, Elisabeth Gilels - Brahms Violin Concerto, Lalo Symponie Espagnole etc.iso
MD5: e8ed54bc76778a52785749376071672d *Leonid Kogan, Kirill Kondrashin - Brahms Violin Concerto, Lalo Symponie Espagnole etc.iso
SFV:  Leonid Kogan, Elisabeth Gilels - Brahms Violin Concerto, Lalo Symponie Espagnole etc.iso C5D51B5D
SFV:  Leonid Kogan, Kirill Kondrashin - Brahms Violin Concerto, Lalo Symponie Espagnole etc.iso 55C7ACC6