Joseph Previte wrote that Zino F is one of his all-time favorite violinists;
he...

>...enthusiastically support[s] Peter's recommendation of ZF's Beethoven
>concerto (on a budget Sony disc with Oistrahk and the Sibelius!)

Oistrakh? Sounds like an interesting disc, but I'm not sure I'm reading
this right...

>Another violinist that I heard for the first time, who I am not certain
>whether they are living or not, is Kogan in the Tchaikovsky Concerto on EMI
>(Berkshire bargain!) Anyone offer any information or recommendations of
>his??

I can't tell you much about Leonid Kogan, though I'm pretty sure he's
no longer with us.  I gather from liner notes that he didn't travel much
beyond the USSR, so his reputation hinges on recordings; hence his relative
obscurity (though only relative, IMO).

I'd certainly recommend Revelation's disc of Prokofiev's violin concerti,
with the USSR State Symphony Orchestra under Kyrill Kondrashin.  It
has David Oistrakh playing VC 1, and Kogan doing VC 2, as well as the
arrangement of 'Masks' from Romeo & Juliet, performed by Kogan and Andrei
Mytnik on piano, and Five Melodies, Op 35b, with Oistrakh and Vladimir
Yampolsky on piano. (Russia Revelation RV 10074) The remastered sound
is extremely good, despite being recordings from 1953, 56, 55 and 47,
respectively.

Going on these liner notes, again, Kogan's also recorded a work that I'm
very glad you put me onto, with Stern at your recommended centre-stage:
Barber's VC.  I gather it's on RV 10058.

Bert Bailey