Is this album worth 3.99? Yes, if you are exploring these pieces for the first time as I am and just want something to familiarize yourself with the pieces.
Turns out the performer, Oleg Kagan, was only weeks away from a premature death due to cancer at the time these live recordings were made. So, given the bravery of even performing at such a time, it's hard to find fault with the performances. However, they are very uneven. Quite often the intonation is well off, other times it sounds like he is using a saw to cut through the violin. Then there are the miking problems. I think somebody captured this from about row 25 - there's lots of hall ambiance, but you are very close to coughers. There isn't a cacophony of coughing, but when some girl coughs it has much more presence than the violin. Yet, on some selections, everything works. These tend to be the faster pieces but it's all a mixed bag. They included applause and for some reason prepend it to the front of tracks - annoying.
