ARTUR RUBINSTEIN
BEETHOVEN: PIANO CONCERTO NO. 4;
Filmed in London, 1967.
Source: BBC Archive.
JASCHA HEIFETZ
MENDELSSOHN: VIOLIN CONCERTO (1st mvt);
DEBUSSY: LA FILLE AUX CHEVEUX DE LIN
DINICU/HEIFETZ: HORA STACCATO.
All three filmed in the USA, 1949, for the Bell Telephone Hour.
Source: Iowa University.
GREGOR PIATIGORSKY
WALTON: CELLO CONCERTO
Filmed in London, 1957.
Source: BBC Archive. BONUS: RUBINSTEIN PERFORMS CHOPIN'S POLONAISE IN A FLAT (HEROIC)
Filmed in London, 1968.
Source: BBC Archive.
DVA 7243 4 92841 9 7

The "Million Dollar Trio," showcased individually. Includes rare 1949 footage of Jascha Heifetz performing music by Mendelssohn, Debussy and Dinicu conducted by another 'record myth' Donald Vorhees. Amazing to watch this 'Violinist of the 20th Century' negotiate both an up-bow and down-bow staccato (in Dinicu's Hora Staccato) while the shimmering tone, so reminiscent of romantic movies from the black-and-white era, is unmistakable. Arthur Rubinstein joins forces with the LPO under the dynamic baton of Antál Dorati for a patrician reading of Beethoven's Fourth Concerto. The 'bonus' is a Rubinstein favourite, Chopin's A flat Polonaise, remarkable in its spontaneity and unforced grandeur. A real find is Gregor Piatigorski's intensely lyrical reading of Sir William Walton's then-new Cello Concerto, under Sir Malcolm Sargent, filmed in February 1957, that was less than a month after the world premiere.

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