David Oistrakh (1908-1974) was a Ukrainian-born Soviet violinist, one of the greatest violinists of the twentieth century. His tone, technique and musical breadth made him a central figure in the modern violin tradition.

Oistrakh was admired in Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovich and much else. In the Pristine catalogue he appears in Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy with Jascha Horenstein.

His playing combined warmth, strength and extraordinary control, with a sonority that could be noble, tender or blazing without losing its centre.

Oistrakh’s page needs no special pleading. His violin speaks with the authority of a great oak that somehow learned flexibility.