I own Hahn, Bell, Takezawa, and Buswell and have heard McDuffie.

Buswell didn't do much for me and Takezawa REALLY didn't do much for me.
Technically great...and aloof as anything. Stravinsky might suit her
better but then I have too much respect for the Stravinsky to have her
play just the notes. McDuffie I would like to hear again, as I remember
thinking well of his interpretation. I also remembering not thinking
well of Levi's orchestral blahness.

If I had to decide between Hahn and Bell, I would pick...both. Hahn plays
it a bit closer to her chest, stoically refusing to let all the emotion
out, with the effect of bathing the first two movements in a haunting
glow. Then the last movement, taken at breakneck speed, is nothing short
of an eruption.

Bell I love and I just might give him the nod, because his sound is
simply a wash of passion (some might even find his rubati a bit too much.
I know how hokey this will sound but it's as if he's living the piece,
not just playing it. This CD also happens to have a great orchestral
accompaniment (Zinman/Baltimore) and the Barber is paired with Walton's
concerto and the underperformed Bloch Baal Shem Tov. Check them both
out!

Though this info. can be found elsewhere easily enough, here's a list
of some recordings to further discussion.

Soloist;   Conductor/Orchestra, Label
Shaham;   Previn/London S.O., DG
Hahn;   Wolff/St. Paul Chamber O., Sony
Oliveira;   Slatkin/St. Louis S., EMI
Stern;   Bernstein/NY Phil., Sony
Bell;   Zinman/Baltimore S.O., London
Buswell;   Alsop/Royal Scottish Nat. O., Naxos
Takezawa;    Slatkin/St. Louis S., RCA Victor
McDuffie;   Levi/Atlanta S.O., Teldec
Ricci;    Clark/Pacific S.O., Reference
*Verdehr;   Bohuslav Martinu Phil. O., Crystal
Kun;     Boughton/English String O., Nimbus
Shapira;    Sanderling/Russian Phil. O., Asv Living
Era
*Salerno-Sonnenberg;   M. Shostakovich/London S.O.,
Angel/EMI
Olding;   Iwaki/Melbourne S.O., ABC Classics
L. Kogan;   P. Kogan, RV

What we really need is someone like Mr. Satz to do one of his fine
comparison taste tests.

Ben Malkevitch <[log in to unmask]>