Each week, Eric picks the best recordings of the concertos played on the shows.

No.1 - The Building blocks to greatness

- For Bach Violin Concertos:

1) Pinchas Zukerman and the English Chamber Orchestra. Done twice, once for RCA and also for SONY.

2) Itzhak Perlman and the English Chamber Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim conducting, on EMI.

3) Elizabeth Wallfisch and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, on VIRGIN CLASSICS.

4) Anne Sophie Mutter, with Salvatore Accardo, on EMI

- For Vivaldi Concertos (4 Seasons):

1) Pinchas Zukerman, with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, for CBC RECORDS.

2) Gil Shaham with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, on DG.

3) Nigel Kennedy with the English Chamber Orchestra, on EMI.

- For Mozart Concertos:

1) Pinchas Zukerman, with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, on SONY. One disc has concertos 1,2,3 and the other, Concertos 4,5.

2) Christian Tetzlaff, with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, on VIRGIN CLASSICS. You can buy either all 5 concertos on a 2 CD set, or 2,4 on one CD and 1,3,5 on the other.

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No.2 - Bruch Concerto No.1 and Scottish Fantasy

1) Jascha Heifetz, with the New Symphony Orchestra, Sir Malcolm Sargent conducting, both the Violin Concerto #1 and the Scottish Fantasy, RCA #61745

2) Pinchas Zukerman: has recorded the Violin Concerto #1 twice and both are availible: on SONY #48274, and on RCA # 55268

3) James Ehnes: Violin Concerto #1 on CBC Records, and the Scottish Fantasy on another CBC Records disk, both with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.

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No. 3  Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto

1. Pinchas Zukerman, with the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, Rafael Kubelik conducting.  AUDITE #95.490  (this is the only       Zukerman recording in the catalogue).

2. Gil Shaham, with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Giuseppe Sinopoli conducting.  DG  437540.

3. Vadim Repin, with the Kirov Theatre Orchestra, led by Valery Gergiev.  PHILIPS, #473343

4. Maxim Vengerov, with the Berlin Philharmonic, Claudio Abbado conducting.  TELDEC #90881.

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No. 4 Bartok Violin Concerto No.2

Note:  Pinchas Zukerman's recordings of the Bartok Concerto are no longer in the catalogue.

1. Isaac Stern, with the New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein conducting.  SONY  64502

2. Gil Shaham, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Boulez conducting, DG 459 639

3. Kyung-Wha Chung, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Georg Solti conducting, DECCA 473271
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No.5 Beethoven Violin Concerto

1. Pinchas Zukerman, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Daneil Barenboim conducting.  DG 435 099

2. Pinchas Zukerman, with the English Chamber Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim conducting. DG 429179

3. Itzhak Perlman, with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Carlo Maria Giulini conducting.  EMI 66952

4. Wolfgang Schneiderhan, with the Berlin Philharmonic, Eugen Jochum conducting.  DG 447403

5. Arthur Grumiaux, with the Concertgebuow Orchestra of Amsterdam, Sir Colin Davis conducting.  PHILIPS 460647.
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No. 6 Brahms Violin Concerto

1. Pinchas Zukerman, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Zubin Mehta conducting.  RCA #56268.

2. David Oistrakh, with the Cleveland Orchestra, George Szell conducting, EMI #67974.

3. Gil Shaham, with the Berlin Philharmonic, Claudio Abbado conducting.  DG #469529.

4. Maxim Vengerov, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim conducting.  TELDEC #17144.

5. Itzhak Perlman, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Carlo Maria Giulini conducting, EMI #66992.

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No.7 Berg Violin Concerto

1. Pinchas Zukerman, with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Pierre Boulez.  SONY #68331.

2. Anne-Sophie Mutter, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted by James Levine, DG #437093.

3. Itzhak Perlman, with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Seiji Ozawa, DG 447445.

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No. 8 The Elgar Concerto

1. Pinchas Zukerman, with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin conducting.  RCA #60389

2. Yehudi Menuhin, with the London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Edward Elgar conducting, NAXOS HISTORICAL, #8110902.

3. Hilary Hahn, with the London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis conducting.  DG 302602.

4. Nigel Kennedy, with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vernon Handley conducting.  EMI 63795.

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No.9 The Mendelssohn Concerto

1. Pinchas Zukerman, with the New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein conducting.
SONY, 61843.  (As far as I can tell, this is the only Zukerman recording of the Mendelssohn still in the catalogue).

2. Midori, with the Berlin Philharmonic, Mariss Jansons conducting.
SONY 87740.

3. Jascha Heifetz, with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Charles Munch conducting.
RCA 68980.  (There are various versions of this performance on different reissues, all on RCA.  This is the cheapest).

4. Maxim Vengerov, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim conductng.
TELDEC 573850522.

5. Kyung Wha Chung, with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Charles Dutoit conducting.
DECCA 460976.

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No.10 Sibelius Concerto

1.  Pinchas Zukerman, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim conducting.
DG 457294

2. Ida Haendel, with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Pavo Berglund conducting.
EMI 75236

3. Jascha Heifetz, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Walter Hendl conducting.
RCA 61744 or 63470

4. Christian Tetzlaff, with the Danish National Orchestra, Thomas Dausgaard conducting.
VIRGIN 45534

5. Anne-Sophie Mutter, with the Dresden Staatskapelle, Andre Previn conducting.
DG 447 895

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