The Complete Warner Recordings

This box set is a follow up to the marvellous Decca box set, for her recordings were also released by EMI now taken over by Warners. These are Warner's complete recordings, Eleven CDs- two concerto's live and one Live DVD. So if you have the Decca set, you would complete your collection. All the recordings are from 1978 to 2001.(REVIEWS BELOW)What is so fascinating about Kyung-Wha Chung, is that she comes from a family of musicians; she has a flautist sister Myung-Soh, also another sister, Cellist Myung-Wha, who studied with Leonard Rose and Gregor Piatigorsky, and won the 1971 Geneva International Music competition. She now teaches music. Her brother Myung-Whun Chung studied piano and conducting, winning the silver medal for piano in 1974 at the Tchaikovsky Competition. As a conductor he has worked with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Florence Opera, Radio Orchestra of Saarbrucken. He is currently Principal guest conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden.In New York at the age of 13 she was offered a Scholarship to Julliard Conservatoire, so she lived with her Cellist sister, following in the footsteps of her Flautist sister. She studied with Ivan Galamian (1903-1981), who taught great violinists such as Perlman, Zuckerman and Michael Rabin. He allowed the personalities of his students to shine through and offering them the skills to continue to teach themselves. He was an important figure to her. In 1967 she entered the Leventritt Competition, the jury included Erica Morini, Szell, Szigeti and Stern. Many felt that Chung deserved to win outright, but the prize was given jointly to her and Zuckerman. Also over two months, Szigeti revealed a world of true musical mastery, a wider vision of violin playing.The box is exactly like that portrayed on Amazon. The sleeves are the originals, track numbers on the back with details of music to be played, plus conductor. There are no CD numbers on the sleeves or CDs, which are varied in colour. In the booklet an Index of her concerto's, and other music she plays, with track numbers and CD numbers. Really it is not important in which order you place the CDs. 10 of the 11 CDs are DDD, one is Stereo. The sound is excellent. I am not sure whether they have been remastered or not. Also, there is a booklet with track numbers, CD numbers and an essay, plus pictures of the violinist at various stages of her career.BARTOK: Violin No 2 Violin Concerto. Rhapsody No's 1 & 2. City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Cond Rattle.Kyung Wha Chung in this version gives a commanding, inspired performance, full of fire and imagination, helped by the inspirational accompaniment of Rattle and the Birmingham Orchestra. The same qualities come out just as vividly in the two flamboyant Rhapsodies, each have two nicely contrasted movements. This performance won the 1994 Gramophone Award for best Concerto Recording. Gramophone magazine wrote of the recording. "Chung's poignantly expressed intelligence will prove a durable virtue".BEETHOVEN:(LIVE) Violin Concerto. Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Cond Klaus Tennstedt. Kyung-Wha Chung is recorded live in the Concertgebouw (see DVD in this box set), she is searching and intense. The element of vulnerability in Chung's reading adds to the emotional weight, above all in the slow movement, which in its wistful tenderness is among the most beautiful on record, while the outer movements are full of flair.BRUCH: Violin Concerto No 1. London Philharmonic Orchestra. Compared with her earlier Decca recording Chung's expressive rubato is more marked, so that in the first movement the opening theme is more impulsive, and her freedom in the second subject vividly convey's the sort of magic you find in live performances. The slow movement brings extreme contrasts of dynamic and expression from the Orchestra as well as soloist, and the final is again impulsive in its bravura. An essential recording for this much loved violinist's admirers.DVORAK: Violin Concerto. Romance. Philadelphia Orchestra cond Muti. Kyung wha Chung gives a heart felt reading of a work that can sound wayward. The partnership with Muti and the Orchestra is a happy one. Chung finds similar concentration in the Romance.BRAHMS: (LIVE) Violin Concerto. Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra cond by Rattle. Chung plays with emotion and is in her element, for the tempi are swift.BEETHOVEN: Symphony no 5. Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Cond by Rattle. The symphony is played very swiftly attempting to comply with the Beethoven's metronome marks, with a big orchestra, not a smaller one, and the music is not lithe, that makes it difficult. You require authentic instruments for that. ( Uses the Jonathan del Mar Edition, Barenreiter). To explain I will quote Del Mar from the booklet accompanying the Beethoven nine symphonies, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Cond Charles Mackerras. "The texts we have used for all nine symphonies are recorded here for the first time. They incorporate the fruits of the latest research into all the extant sources, research that has produced many important corrections to the received texts. The tempi on all these recordings closely follow Beethoven's own controversial, but quite possible and practical metronome marks. Mackerras was an authentic instrument specialist as well. A classic of the nine symphonies.(Recorded 1991-1997, published by EMI 1998)BRAHMS: Violin Sonatas 1-3. Peter Frankl piano. The playing here is first rate. Chung and Frankl benefited from a long period of rehearsal and recording time. The opening of the first Sonata is overwhelming. Chung brings that passionate tone to these sonatas and makes them sound anew. Simply, WOW!BEETHOVEN: Piano Trios played by the Chung Trio. No 1 and 5 'Ghost', No 4 and 7 'Archduke'. TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Trio and SHOSTAKOVICH Piano Trio No 1 composed when he was 17. The Chung trio is made up of two sisters and their brother. Kyung Wha Chung- violin, Myung Wha Chung-Cello, Myung Whun Chung- piano. The sound is full bodied and with great care for detail. The members breath as one and the technical virtuosity of all three artists is spectacular. Intellectually, their renditions are on the highest level. They transmit the markings in a natural way which is difficult to achieve in Beethoven, but the Chung trio do exactly that.MENDELSSOHN and SCHUMANN: STEREO. Piano trios No 1 in D minor. Previn-Piano, Kyung Wha Chung-violin, Pail Tortelier-cello. The playing is extremely good. But I do not like the piano trio's as composed by Schumann and Mendelssohn.SOUVENIRS: DVORAK: Humoreske in G flat. Romatic Pieces, op 75. 1-4. SZYMANOWSKI: Nocturne & Tarantella, op 28.J.S BACH: Suite No 3 in D, BWV 1068. Air. STRAVINSKY: Duo Concertant. Dithyrambe. IBERT: Le Petit Ane blanc. KREISLER: Schon Rosmarin. Caprice viennois. Tamborin Chinois. SCHUBERT: Ave Maria. (arr Wilhelmj, ed. Heifetz).RACHMANINOV: Romance. Dance hongroise. MASSENET: Meditation from " Thais". DEBUSSY: Beau Soir. ( trasc Heifetz).SARASATE: Zigeunerweisen. Violin Kyung wha Chung. Piano Itamar Golan. Her violin sound is distinctive, lyrical and passionate. She could make a grown man cry.VIVALDI: The four seasons. St Luke's chamber ensemble, one of America's most versatile chamber orchestra. This is a traditional performance. Chung's playing is warm.DVD (LIVE)(In Colour) BEETHOVEN: Violin Concerto. Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Klaus Tennstedt. This shows off Chung at her animated best. She puts everything she has into her performance.But Klaus Tennstedt who had originally escaped from East Germany, thought he was only a provincial conductor, not much good for anything else. He did not realize he was a superb conductor and when his dream came true and he was offered top orchestras, he could not quite handle it. His performances of Mahler and Bruckner opened the World to him, and the more popular he became amongst the orchestras and the public, the greater the fear that he was not good enough. He cancelled more often then not. In the end, at a performance, in the interval, he could not go on, the orchestra said stand there, we will cover for you. He resigned all his posts then and there. In this 1989 TV recording, he had become a guest conductor. You can see the fear, the inferiority complex, caused by not feeling worthy. Yet lesser conductors then he, thought they were good and carried on regardless.I hope you enjoy this box set as much as I have.