Album: Brahms/Korngold, Violin Concertos – Znaider/Gergiev/ Wiener Phil, (RCA)

Brahms tasteful, Korngold vulgar, right? Not in this recording. Soloist Nikolaj Znaider's meticulously judged vibrato glows through the poignant Romance of Korngold's Violin Concerto while Valéry Gergiev works his quivering magic with the Wiener Philharmoniker.

Znaider's Finale is dashing and mercurial. Any schmaltz is reserved for the Brahms, where Gergiev's odd balancing of the woodwind makes the opening of the Adagio sound like Tchaikovsky, and the Vienna strings deliver a cautiously paced last movement.