Mozart Piano Concerto 21.

I wnt to school with Akiko, I couldn't disagree more. Thin mechanical playing. completely passionless.

To be honest I have not heard the artists above on the Bach. So you are correct, I should first listen to Enesco (??) and Szigeti, maybe Menuhin, though not a big fan of his other recordings. Great post, I can learn from reviews like this,and better keeps me on the track to best recordings. The Oistrakh/Cluytens was on a budget label I bought 2 years ago. sadly, I see now its out of print. hummm, there is another recording with the Berlin + a german conductor, not sure about a review, doubt its as good as the Cluytens. The only other one is with the legendary conductor Alexander Gauk(great conductor indeed!!!)/Moscow on the Classic D Oro label, 1940 recording. The sound is poor, but its worth the $7 if you love this concerto and Oistrakh as well. I have almost everything Oistrakh recorded + most of Heiftz(I'm new to Heiftz), have nothing by Szigeti. I'm abit more cautious about what I purchase, I've got my share of "dust-collecting" discs.

Look, I have serious violinist/collector friends who Love Hillary Hahn. Rave about her. It's just my taste. I would start with the Szigeti Bach's, there is a Biddulph with a selection of his works, Bach, Bartok, Brahms, and something else, it's a good start. Check out his Brahms Concerto recordings- incredible. And his Mozart Sonatas with Szell and Horszowski is my favorite recording of just about anything. It restores my faith in art and music. He is kind of the polar opposite of Heifetz (who I love). Kind of Ying to Heifetz' Yang. Or another great recording of his is the Recital at the Library of Congress with Bela Bartok at the piano, Beethoven Kreutzer, Bartok Rhapsody, Debussy Sonata, nad Bartok sonata. You'll realize that Bartok was one of the genius pianists of this century. It sounds like a great jazz colaboration. There is a philip's japanese cd pressing of the bach's. bad sound, and he was a little past his prime- which you can hear on a biddulph short pieces album. But the monumental artistry is obvious.
Check out the Bach of Menuhin's youth, it is delicious. I'm a fan, so I also appreciate his admittedly more funky and earthy(read slightly out of tune and shaky) later Bach performances. I actually prefer them, in the same way I prefer bruised, browned overly ripe peaches that when you bite in to them, the overly sweet juices run all over and it is a complete mess, but the flavor is divine.
Not to beat a dead horse, but to me Hillary Hahn, is like a very good, perfectly round, flawless, firm peach, with good color,not quite ripened yet, peach that you buy at a gourmet produce store.

sorry, philips japanese bach is of georges enesco.

I heard pletnev on the radio playing Mozart 24(?) with a german chamber orchestra, I found it engaging and him a very good pianist. Bright and healthy in tone, beautiful slow movement, and made sense of the music. I was picking up my wife at the airport, and stayed in the car to hear who it was because it wasn't the usual mindless, generic approach. I like him alot.
As for Josh Bell... He is a joke. I find he trades on his glamour boy image more than anything else. I find his playing is vulgar and distorted. Completely uninteresting. And Tasmin Little is lucky she has the Brit machine behind her, because she isn't much of a violinist or a musician(IMO).