“To make the violin speak”, was Isaac Stern’s succinct artistic maxim. These live recordings, made in 1956 and 1958 at the Lucerne Festival, exemplify how Stern realised his concept of musical rhetoric on the concert platform. Stern never performed in Germany; in Switzerland, however, he gave concerts frequently. He was a regular guest at the Lucerne Festival, appearing ten times between 1948 and 1988, both as soloist and as chamber musician, including with his Piano Trio alongside Eugene Istomin and Leonard Rose.

Only a small number of live recordings with Isaac Stern exist. The Lucerne recordings of the Tchaikovsky and Bartók Concertos, issued here for the first time, are thus of particular documentary value, as well as important elements within the extensive discography of the violinist who died in 2001.

Contents:
Tchaikovsky: Swiss Festival Orchestra / Lorin Maazel
Live recording: Kunsthaus Lucerne, August 23, 1958

Bartok: Swiss Festival Orchestra / Ernest Ansermet
Live recording: Kunsthaus Lucerne, August 18, 1956