Itzhak Perlman / Orchestre de Paris / Daniel Barenboim SAINT-SAËNS Violin Concert No. 3 WIENIAWSKI Violin Concerto No. 2

 There is really very little that need be said about these virtuoso performances of these two sweetly melodious concertos except to record that they are played as brilliantly as one would expect and that the sound is full and warm. Perlman has recorded Wieniawski's No. 2 before on HMV, as can be seen; possibly he has now an even silkier demeanour with it. It is perhaps this quality that leads me to prefer his playing above Chung's rather more forceful manner in the Saint-Saens (Decca). Perlman is particularly elegant in the slow movement of the Wieniawski, and of course he never makes the mistake of trying to inflate either work to the status of masterpiece.
Gramophone [1/1984]
reviewing the original LP