Aural histories, the next gen

It might seem sheer folly for young artists to make new recordings of well-known concertos. They are competing with the great soloists of the past 100 years in a marketplace glutted with standard repertory. Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons,” to take but one example, has been recorded more than 200 times. Still, we count on each new crop of musicians to keep music alive.

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Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto

Joshua Bell, violin. Berlin Philharmonic. Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor. (Sony Classical)

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BELL aims for chamber music transparency and intimacy in this large-scale Romantic work, etching fine lines while keeping expressivity close to the chest. He may be the first musician to open up all the traditional cuts in the last movement, although without making a persuasive case for doing so. The concerto was recorded live. The disc also contains the Meditation in D minor, originally the concerto’s slow movement, and the “Russian Dance” from “Swan Lake,” usually cut in performances of the ballet. Tilson Thomas shares Bell’s approach, letting climaxes be big statements but scaling down almost immediately after.

-- Chris Pasles