To my mind the greatest violinists of the 20th century were Fritz Kreisler, Jascha Heifetz, Nathan Milstein, Yehudi Menuhin and David Oistrakh.
Fritz Kreisler had an unmatchable lyrical sweetness - he was a true Edwardian of sound. Heifetz was the great virtuoso, a whipcrack extrovert showman of unbelievable technical proficiency. Milstein had a clear pure line which had aspects of both Kreisler and Heifetz, but which seemed to possess an inner purity. And Menuhin? His unique timbre carried with it an evident love of all humanity - his playing was an act of devotion.
But of them all, Russia's David Oistrakh was to my ear the supreme violinist of the 20th century. He had Milstein's purity and Heifetz's virtuosity. Suppleness and velvety warmth, but always, underlying everything else, was a cord of steel. He was always subservient to the composer's needs - but every note was recognisably Oistrakh.
David Oistrakh: Artist of the People? is a documentary by French film-maker Bruno Monsaingeon which examines Oistrakh's career by asking the question of how a man of such artistry and dedication could have existed under the brutal Stalinist regime. What compromises did he have to make to be an 'artist of the people'? What was the final payment for those compromises?
It is a compelling documentary. It is not as comprehensive a document as Monsaingeon's outstanding documentary about the great Russian pianist Sviatoslav Richter, Richter, the Enigma (also on Warner Music Vision DVD), but it still stands as always fascinating, often disturbing viewing.
Yehudi Menuhin, conductor Gennadi Rozhdestvensky, Oistrakh's son Igor and cellist Slava Rostropovich (who has personally told me some great stories about Oistrakh), all offer testimony to Oistrakh's life and artistry. The picture is of a man deeply in love with both music and his country, who felt intense loyalty to the country which gave him the opportunity to become one of the world's outstanding musicians - loyalty to a country which eventually betrayed him.
Gennadi Rozhdestvensky offers up the single best quote, when commenting on how Russia, under the Stalin regime, managed to produce such great musicians, as well as such outstanding composers as Shostakovich...
| "You can compare us to a vine. If the vine grows in a thankless, chalky, stony soil, the wine is better..." |
It is a great documentary - my only complaint is that at 75 minutes it is really too short to be the only feature on a DVD. It would have been better for a second program to have been offered, of selected key filmed performances by Oistrakh in full, to flesh out the short excerpts we hear during the documentary.
Although officially a 'stereo' PCM track, it is mostly in mono. In at least one musical excerpt there is a loud low-level hum which should have been suppressed. There has been little if any work done to clean up or sweeten the sound, which is harsh and very raw at times. Some other Warner Vision arts documentaries on DVD, particularly their outstanding release Golden Voices of the Century: The Art of Singing have shown just what a great job can be done in rendering these older soundtracks palatable; it's a shame the same wasn't done here.
I have listed the audio as Russian - that was a line-ball decision as half the interviews and original soundtracks are in Russian, the rest in English. The English subtitle track automatically selected through the menu results in subtitles which are on continually, whatever the language, but you can toggle to another subtitle level which cuts in only when needed.
Ultimately, this is the only worthwhile study on the life and artistry of one of the giants of 20th century music-making. This alone makes it indispensable for those interested in great music and musicians. However, its value would have been heightened tremendously by more generous extra musical features, and by more audio restoration work.
In the end, it is a release which many will want to have, and which should make fascinating viewing even for people with no knowledge of David Oistrakh or of the music he performed.
