Virtuosos in and out of fashion

[mikealdren]

The thing is, the Varga's Nielsen was a Vox recording. Are you sure Decca/DG/Universal licences it from them?

Hi Bryn,
not sure how it got on to Turnabout but it was on DG then Heliodor (which I bought in the 60s) first.
Mike

[mikealdren]

Mike it was when Australian Eloquence had their own FB page . I note that this now appears to have been subsumed in Eloquence Classics so hope not scrapped then again they promised the Monteux Beethoven about a year before it arrived

Let's hope so, there's a wonderful cache of recordings there.

[kea]

I really enjoy the recordings of Pamela Frank that I have, both technically and interpretively, but it's been ages since there's been one. Of particular note is one of my Desert Island Discs, her recording of the Brahms violin sonatas with Peter Serkin, another artist notable for his absence from the recorded repertoire for no obvious reason (though he has slightly more available).

(It amused me to find out that she's a soloist on a Decca release of the music of Aaron Jay Kernis—who was briefly a very fashionable contemporary composer now faded into obscurity again—along with the aforementioned Cho-Liang Lin, and Joshua Bell, who is still fashionable for now but teetering on the cusp of irrelevance.)

On the basis of the Brahms disc, a set of the Beethoven sonatas with her father Claude Frank (also an artist not to be overlooked), Dvořák & Suk with Mackerras, one Mozart concerto (she recorded all five but I haven't listened to all of them yet) and the Schubert String Quintet from Marlboro—another DID—I'd consider her "the real deal".

Among other living violinists who are also "the real deal": Viktoria Mullova, Isabelle Faust, Vilde Frang, Christian Tetzlaff, Gidon Kremer, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Antje Weithaas, Ariadne Daskalakis, Carolin Widmann, Josef Suk, Anthony Marwood, Augustin Dumay, Chiara Banchini, plus Thomas Zehetmair, Kyung-Wha Chung, Leila Josefowicz & Hilary Hahn although I'm less keen on them interpretively.

(Compare with the list of dead violinists who are the real deal in my completely professional opinion: Busch, Kreisler, Heifetz, Menuhin, Milstein, Grumiaux, Oistrakh, Haendel, Kagan, Ferras, Francescatti, Végh, Joseph Fuchs, Gioconda de Vito... I mean basically I think this century's doing pretty well >_>)

[Conchis]

Whatever happened to Ofra Harnoy?

[pastoralguy]

Whatever happened to Ofra Harnoy?

She left the concert stage for a while to concentrate on raising her two children and and caring for her terminally ill mother. Her husband is some sort of money man so I suspect that flying around the world giving concerts isn't really a priority anymore and I believe she only really plays in public when she feels the project is worthwhile.

Alas, I never heard her live but I have a few of her CDs and always found them full of character if, perhaps, not the last word.

[pastoralguy]

(Compare with the list of dead violinists who are the real deal in my completely professional opinion: Busch, Kreisler, Heifetz, Menuhin, Milstein, Grumiaux, Oistrakh, Haendel, Kagan, Ferras, Francescatti, Végh, Joseph Fuchs, Gioconda de Vito... I mean basically I think this century's doing pretty well.


Ida Haendel isn't dead!!

And do you mean David or Igor Oistrakh 'cause I'm pretty sure Igor is still around as well?

[mikealdren]

Among other living violinists who are also "the real deal": Viktoria Mullova, Isabelle Faust, Vilde Frang, Christian Tetzlaff, Gidon Kremer, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Antje Weithaas, Ariadne Daskalakis, Carolin Widmann, Josef Suk, Anthony Marwood, Augustin Dumay, Chiara Banchini, plus Thomas Zehetmair, Kyung-Wha Chung, Leila Josefowicz & Hilary Hahn although I'm less keen on them interpretively.

I largely agree with your list, I rate Hilary Hahn higher but only in the right repertoire, somehow her cool approach doesn't work with Sibelius/Elgar for me. Give Tianwa Yang a try, her Naxos recordings (admittedly a lot of Sarasate but also Ysaye/Mendelssohn/Lalo and others) are superb and I heard her play the Brahms concerto live with the most stunning Ysaye 3rd sonata as an encore.

In addition to my list of younger players we mustn't forget the magnificent Leonodas Kavakos.

[pastoralguy]

I largely agree with your list, I rate Hilary Hahn higher but only in the right repertoire, somehow her cool approach doesn't work with Sibelius/Elgar for me. Give Tianwa Yang a try, her Naxos recordings (admittedly a lot of Sarasate but also Ysaye/Mendelssohn/Lalo and others) are superb and I heard her play the Brahms concerto live with the most stunning Ysaye 3rd sonata as an encore.

In addition to my list of younger players we mustn't forget the magnificent Leonodas Kavakos.

Imho, Hilary Hahn's solo Bach cd is one of the very finest recordings of this incredibly difficult music and is my very favourite. Alas, there's only one disc and I wish she would record the missing works or simply just give us a complete set.

A friend in the RSNO who did a tour with her some years ago reported that each of the eight performances of the Tchaikovsky concerto she gave was absolutely identical.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Irreverently off-topic, but whenever I read the Thread title I can't help thinking of

[Parry1912]

Irreverently off-topic, but whenever I read the Thread title I can't help thinking of

(Great recording though!)

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

(Great recording though!)

[LeMartinPecheur]

It is possible that I am confusing it with another DG recording that I have been waiting for, Gimpel's Lalo, which was in 'The mono Era'1948-1957' but not available for download from the DG site.

Glad to see this recording mentioned. I'm no expert on the work but picked up a Heliodor LP copy rather at random for pennies a while back, and thought it was a bit good!

[Conchis]

She left the concert stage for a while to concentrate on raising her two children and and caring for her terminally ill mother. Her husband is some sort of money man so I suspect that flying around the world giving concerts isn't really a priority anymore and I believe she only really plays in public when she feels the project is worthwhile.

Alas, I never heard her live but I have a few of her CDs and always found them full of character if, perhaps, not the last word.

That's good to hear. Her wikipedia entry is a bit spartan and inconclusive.

She was nastily written off in one of Norman Lebrecht's disposable books as someone who was sold to the public on the basis of her looks.

[pastoralguy]

That's good to hear. Her wikipedia entry is a bit spartan and inconclusive.

She was nastily written off in one of Norman Lebrecht's disposable books as someone who was sold to the public on the basis of her looks.

A friend of mine, who's a very fine professional 'cellist, told me that she was an outstanding player. Something my own ears had told me. Yes, she's a good looking woman but she's a super player too.

[Bryn]

A friend of mine, whose a very fine professional 'cellist, told me that she was an outstanding player. Something my own ears had told me. Yes, she's a good looking woman but she's a super player too.

I have her box of Vivaldi concertos. Not HIPP, but I like 'em.