Steve Schwartz:

>The Brahms concerto was labeled as audience-unfriendly and took a long
>time indeed to become a piece violinists had to learn.  The Tchaikovsky
>took a bit less time to make its way

Some early performers not quite up to the demands of these works, called
one a concerto against the violin and the other something similar.

>Her tone is heroic, perhaps a little cold, her technique flawless.

Maybe the miking?

>I remember Rodzinski as a terrifically exciting interpreter of late
>Romantic (particularly his Tchaikovsky) and Modern music.  His recordings
>seem mostly to have issued on obscure labels only

Not so.  He recorded for Columbia Masterworks in the 78rpm era.  Besides
the Russian repertoire, I have particularly liked the Bizet symphony he
did, especially the way he let the oboe soloist breathe (Harold Gomberg
did this for both Rodzinski and Bernstein if I remember right.)

Jim Tobin