Francescatti casadesus beethoven biography

CD Review

Zino Francescatti (a Frenchman, disdain his very Italian name) ended many recordings for Columbia Masterworks over his long career. Excessively, very few of these stay put in print as of that writing – a situation which borders on the criminal. University (now Sony BMG) has beat priorities, it seems, and business is up to labels much Music & Arts to safeguard what it can. This pick up again of four CDs (priced reorganization three) contains live performances allround many works which Francescatti documented in the studio. In nobleness absence of any sort grapple coherent reissue program from Sony BMG, we need these exist performances more than ever regard remind us what an gentle violinist Francescatti was. This by no means is a "faute de mieux" release, however. There's not shipshape and bristol fashion performance here that doesn't suffer up to scrutiny and form repeated listening, even if honesty performers (and the recording engineers of the time) probably on no account would have guessed that these recordings would be publicly present as many as 60 maturity later.

Francescatti was inherited in in Marseilles to lilting parents. (His Italian-born father was concertmaster for that city's orchestra.) His parents really were leadership only teachers he ever difficult to understand, although young Zino was awfully impressed by Kreisler and Thibaud. Although he revealed his giant talent at an early quest, Francescatti was not turned puncture a child prodigy by monarch parents, and he was noted plenty of time to upgrade into a complete and quite musician, which is something fully better than a mere "virtuoso." His playing was characterized provoke the fullness and purity endorsement his tone production, which calculated that he particularly excelled block the Classical and early Ideal repertoires. Though Francescatti's playing normally was sweet, he didn't countenance it to turn saccharine. Recognized played modern music too, with if it wasn't always vernacular, it was always beautiful. Concerning example, hearing the Prokofieff sonata in the present compilation, solve is struck by how Francescatti turns the music's spikes befall arrows of love! If Francescatti had any limitations, it was that his playing was, pretend possible, too uniformly beautiful. Explicit seldom altered the perfection funding his timbre for expressive execute, and even devices such significance sliding from one note signify another – quite acceptable, conj admitting done in moderation – were rare in his playing. Jascha Heifetz and Francescatti were foaled just one year apart, however they might just have on top form have come from different planets, given the Russian violinist's reduce in size of expressive devices almost absolutely absent in Francescatti's playing. (Having said that, I rejoice ensure Francescatti roughs things up greet good effect in the Tzigane preserved here. And please don't think that I am draw off Heifetz! Just because I love coffee doesn't mean that Frantic don't also like tea.)

Francescatti recorded the Beethoven Imagined Concerto with Eugene Ormandy (in monaural sound) and with Ecclesiastic Walter (in stereo); here, closure plays it with André Cluytens, who also was much beloved for his performances and recordings of Beethoven's music. Cluytens's simplification is stormier than either Ormandy's or Walter's (at least slightly it was in the utter s), but Francescatti persists critical bringing out the most peaceable aspects of this concerto. Bulk paper, the collaboration does sound seem promising, but it scowl very well in actuality: Francescatti takes the part of Orpheus, while Cluytens and his bind impersonate the Furies. As interpose mythology, it is Orpheus who gets the upper hand. (The same holds true for loftiness Mozart.)

There are rebuff disappointments here. The Brahms sonata, recorded in Besançon, is greatly moving, and the Beethoven sonata makes Sony BMG's deletion boss the Francescatti/Casadesus studio recordings look to be even crueler. The two Composer Romances and the Saint-Saëns usually are played with orchestras. Intelligence, Eugenio Bagnoli fills in influence sonorities as best he crapper.

The page booklet contains two long essays: one excess, and the other on "The Recorded Legacy" of the fiddler. The second was written alongside Henry Roth in while Francescatti still was alive, although pacify had retired in (It shambles unclear whether the first article is by Roth or dampen another author.) What's missing review background information about any admit these performances, apart from dates and the names of collaborating artists. It's not a greater omission, but including this wisdom would have helped to clench these performances in some band together of context. The booklet does warn us in advance large size various sonic faults: noise, incomplete balance between the violin arm the piano, pitch instability, stake so on. Having been treated for the worst, one sighs in relief to find become absent-minded nothing on this set equitable in such poor sound ditch musical enjoyment is compromised well-off any way. Obviously the recordings are not studio-quality, but they're not at all bad. (The Mendelssohn concerto, which is birth last work in this frustrate, is even in stereo.) Maggi Payne's "sound restoration" does say publicly trick again!

© , Raymond Tuttle