VA - Violin Adagios [2CD Set] (2001)
Artist: Various Artists
Title: Violin Adagios
Year Of Release: 2001
Label: Decca [289 467 675-2]
Genre: Classical
Quality: 320 kbps / FLAC (tracks+cue,log)
Total Time: 2:38:56
Total Size: 363 mb / 674 mb
WebSite: Album Preview
Title: Violin Adagios
Year Of Release: 2001
Label: Decca [289 467 675-2]
Genre: Classical
Quality: 320 kbps / FLAC (tracks+cue,log)
Total Time: 2:38:56
Total Size: 363 mb / 674 mb
WebSite: Album Preview
Usually, compilations such as this one–two CDs, two and one half hours of nothing but “romantic”, relatively slow-paced violin “favorites”–speak for themselves. If you like this sort of thing, you don’t need some critic telling you that you should or shouldn’t have it. But this one, which features selections from the Decca and Philips catalogs performed by several of the 20th and 21st centuries’ first-rank artists and recorded primarily during the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s, left me a little unimpressed and uninspired. As a violinist, I’ve heard all these pieces many times, played a few of them, heard several of these artists perform live, and remember most of the original recordings from which these selections were taken. But having these 29 tracks laid out in such a mixture of works, styles, and performers makes you realize both how homogenized and uncharacterful much of the playing is and how certain players–Szeryng and Perlman, for instance–really stand out as individuals whatever they are playing.
Of course, comparative analysis of playing technique and the state of violin performance today is not the point of a recording with a subtitle “Over two and one half hours of the world’s most beautiful music”. And to be fair, the nature of the music gives only a relatively narrow perspective on what any particular artist can do. Nevertheless, I found myself enjoying the less familiar pieces and performers more and tuning out things like “Winter” from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons (Alan Loveday), Massenet’s Méditation (Nigel Kennedy), the Adagio from Brahms’ Violin Concerto (Joshua Bell, who aggravatingly insists on playing just behind the beat!), and the Andante from Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto (Leila Josefowicz). Yes, I did renew my appreciation for Midori and for Kyung Wha Chung–and, when I just let the music flow in the background my enjoyment was correspondingly enhanced (just what the producers had in mind, I’m sure). The sound varies but not disturbingly so, through the whole range of recording techniques and technologies from decent early-’60s and ’70s analog to the clearest, most detailed digital of the ’90s.
Of course, comparative analysis of playing technique and the state of violin performance today is not the point of a recording with a subtitle “Over two and one half hours of the world’s most beautiful music”. And to be fair, the nature of the music gives only a relatively narrow perspective on what any particular artist can do. Nevertheless, I found myself enjoying the less familiar pieces and performers more and tuning out things like “Winter” from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons (Alan Loveday), Massenet’s Méditation (Nigel Kennedy), the Adagio from Brahms’ Violin Concerto (Joshua Bell, who aggravatingly insists on playing just behind the beat!), and the Andante from Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto (Leila Josefowicz). Yes, I did renew my appreciation for Midori and for Kyung Wha Chung–and, when I just let the music flow in the background my enjoyment was correspondingly enhanced (just what the producers had in mind, I’m sure). The sound varies but not disturbingly so, through the whole range of recording techniques and technologies from decent early-’60s and ’70s analog to the clearest, most detailed digital of the ’90s.
:: TRACKLIST ::
CD 1
1. Massenet: Thaïs / Acte Deux - Méditation religieuse 5:40
by Nigel Kennedy & The National Philharmonic Orchestra & Richard Bonynge
2. Bruch: Violin Concerto No.1 in G minor, Op.26 - 2. Adagio 8:39
by Kyung Wha Chung and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Rudolf Kempe
3. Vivaldi: 12 Violin Concertos, Op.8 "Il cimento dell'armonia e dell' invenzione" - Concerto No. 4 in f minor for solo violin,"L'Inverno" - 2. Largo (excerpt) 2:20
by Alan Loveday & Academy of St. Martin in the Fields & Sir Neville Marriner
4. J.S. Bach: Concerto for 2 Violins, Strings, and Continuo in D minor, BWV 1043 - 2. Largo ma non tanto 6:28
by Henryk Szeryng & Maurice Hasson & Academy of St. Martin in the Fields & Sir Neville Marriner
5. Mozart: Adagio in E Major, K. 261 6:42
by Henryk Szeryng and New Philharmonia Orchestra and Sir Alexander Gibson
6. Rachmaninov: Vocalise, Op.34, No.14 5:27
by Akiko Suwanai and Phillip Moll
7. Brahms: Violin Concerto in D, Op.77 - 2. Adagio 9:10
by Joshua Bell & The Cleveland Orchestra & Christoph von Dohnányi
8. Barber: Concerto for Violin & Orchestra, Op.14 - 2. Andante 8:47
by Joshua Bell & Baltimore Symphony Orchestra & David Zinman
9. Gluck: Mélodie from "Orfeo ed Euridice" (Dance of the Blessed Spirits) [Arranged For Violin And Piano] 2:44
by Arthur Grumiaux and Istvan Hajdu
10. Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 5 in F Major, Op. 24 "Spring" - Arr. for Piano and Violin - 2. Adagio molto espressivo 6:26
by Itzhak Perlman and Vladimir Ashkenazy
11. Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto In D, Op.35, TH. 59 - 2. Canzonetta (Andante) 6:57
by Leila Josefowicz & Academy of St. Martin in the Fields & Sir Neville Marriner
12. Dvorák: Gypsy Melodies, Op.55, No.4 - Songs My Mother Taught Me 2:08
by Arthur Grumiaux and Istvan Hajdu
13. Tchaikovsky: None But The Lonely Heart 3:24
by Josef Sakonov and London Festival Orchestra
14. Shostakovich: The Gadfly, Op.97 - 3. Youth (Romance) 3:50
by Alexander Kerr & Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra & Riccardo Chailly
CD 2
1. Beethoven: Violin Romance No.2 in F, Op.50 7:51
by Arthur Grumiaux & Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra & Bernard Haitink
2. J.S. Bach: Violin Concerto No.2 in E, BWV 1042 - 2. Adagio 6:36
by Midori & St. Paul Chamber Orchestra & Pinchas Zukerman
3. Elgar: Salut d'amour, Op. 12 2:56
by Kyung Wha Chung and Phillip Moll
4. Schubert: "Ellens Gesang III", D839 - Ave Maria 4:14
by Arthur Grumiaux and Istvan Hajdu
5. Vivaldi: 12 Concertos, Op.3 - "L'estro armonico" / Concerto No. 8 In A Minor For 2 Violins, RV 522 - 2. Larghetto e spirituoso 4:32
by Pinchas Zukerman & Midori & St. Paul Chamber Orchestra
6. Handel: Sonata in D major, Op.1, No.13 - 3. Larghetto 2:31
by Iona Brown & Denis Vigay & Nicholas Kraemer & Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble
7. Mozart: Violin Concerto No.3 in G, K.216 - 2. Adagio 7:36
by Arthur Grumiaux and London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Colin Davis
8. Kreisler: Liebesleid 3:41
by Joshua Bell and Paul Coker
9. Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto In E Minor, Op.64, MWV O14 - 2. Andante 7:20
by Kyung Wha Chung & Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal & Charles Dutoit
10. Tchaikovsky: Souvenir d'un lieu cher, Op.42, TH.116 - 3. Mélodie in E Flat 3:38
by Akiko Suwanai and Phillip Moll
11. Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D minor, Op.47 - 2. Adagio di molto 8:10
by Kyung Wha Chung & London Symphony Orchestra & André Previn
12. Korngold: Violin Concerto in D major, Op.35 - 2. Romance: Andante 8:54
by Chantal Juillet & Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin & John Mauceri
13. Schubert: Schwanengesang, D.957 - Ständchen 2:39
by Arthur Grumiaux and Istvan Hajdu
14. Ponce: Estrellita 3:04
by Arthur Grumiaux and Istvan Hajdu
15. J.S. Bach: Suite No.3 in D, BWV 1068 - 2. Air 5:12
by Academy of St. Martin in the Fields and Sir Neville Marriner
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