Album Reviews

Let's first diffuse the price outrage. This reissue of Leonid Kogan's epic performance of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto and Meditation by The Electric Recording Company, limited to 300 copies, costs £300 or about $504.

Original pressings, issued by UK Columbia in 1960 go for upwards of $5250 and never for less than $3000 in excellent condition. You can look it up for yourself on popsike.com. Yes, you can buy a Testament vinyl reissue for $35 that's cut from the original tape on solid state gear at Abbey Road, but based on the Johanna Martzy reissue comparison made "live" before ListenUp! Denver customers, you get what you pay for and then some.

Like previous ERC reissues, this one's cut using a fully restored all-tube Lyrec/Ortofon cutting system with packaging that is 100% faithful to the original with the exception of the "Columbia" logo being replaced by "EMI" for contractual reasons.

However, while previous pressing quality was very good, this new one takes quality to QRP level both in terms of fit'n'finish and sonic perfection. Backgrounds are jet-black perfect.

But more importantly, the Columbia engineers had made great sonic strides between the Kogan Beethoven Violin Concerto (also reissued by ERC) and this one. The orchestral spread is far more natural and not as "hard left/hard right" as it is on the Beethoven. More importantly, the orchestra's tone is harmonically rich and exceptionally transparent and it floats preternaturally in three dimensional space just behind Kogan's swoon-inducing violin, the tone of which is 100% believable and of the highest fi.

And even more importantly, while I don't claim to be the most sophisticated classical music listener, I've heard many Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto performances on record including Heifetz's RCA "Living Stereo", the somewhat more famous Oistrakh, Elman's and a few others and this one pushes all of my Tchaik buttons better than any of the others.

This is a lush, romantic, melodic piece—possibly Tchaikovsky's expression of love for one of his former male students (not that there's anything wrong with that) that Kogan delivers with forceful passion without breaking the emotional bank. We think of electric guitars and guitarists as having sexual swagger, but this performance extends well beyond sensual—the fiddle norm—right into penetrating sex.

The string tone produced and superbly recorded will melt you in your chair first play and every play, if you are fortunate enough to own this stunning limited edition release. Recommended without reservation even if you have borrow or hock something to buy it. It is an investment that will only increase in value over time.

One warning: it comes in ERC's ornate packaging including a booklet a wide "Obi" and a plastic outer sleeve sealed with a circular black sticky seal. You will probably be moved to keep the entire package intact. Either be extremely careful with the black sticky circle or if you are the least bit klutzy remove it and throw it away. As I was replacing the jacket in the outer plastic, the black sticky circle latched onto the lower back of the rear paper jacket and ripped off a small piece of it. UGH. You have been warned.