After 9CD in memoriam "inédits et introuvables" (RH-019), this is another treasure recording of Ivry Gitlis. From the never published studio recording in Denmark. With Natalia Likhopoi (Great Russian violinist Viktor Tretiakov's wife), Gitlis plays Concerto for 2 Violins in D minor.

All recordings are first published here, including two most important ones: Ferras's first concert in the USA (playing Brahms' violin concerto with Charles Munch in Boston) and Ferras playing Mozart's violin concerto No. 3 for Pope John XXIII in 1963, one of the most powerful experiences of Ferras' life.

This release includes the entirety of Wanda Luzzato’s recorded legacy. The tracks have been dutifully restored and remastered for a better listening experience. The songs on this release are previously unreleased recordings. MusicWeb writes: “Valuable recorded documents from the Wanda Luzzato Archive. - I would encourage all violin afficionados to explore this compelling collection. I’m most impressed by Rhine Classics presentation. Everything about this production spells quality. [...] Luzzato commands a formidable technique. Her tone is sweet and pure and comes over as silvery in some recordings… Intonation is for the most part pristine. She seems to be greatly influenced by Heifetz in her use of expressive slides and position changes. Emilio Pessina’s expert restorations and remasterings are to be commended.”

Gary Lemco writes: “My own beguilement with Szeryng came with his performance in 1987 Atlanta with Louis Lane, of the North American premiere of the 1927 Concerto by Reynaldo Hahn, the French master of the Belle Epoch. “Ah, yes”, asserts Szeryng, “Reynaldo Hahn, the most Parisian of all Parisians, even though he was born in Caracas of German parents. There is even a street in Caracas named for him. I remember meeting him; and even though he was trained as a pianist, he had a natural sense of the violin. Some favor his Violin Sonata. The Concerto is published, but for some reason nobody plays it. The first movement for me is the best and most compact and makes a natural display piece. The second movement is based on a song from Tunis — absolutely genuine— and the finale sings in a typical operetta style. It starts like an extension of the second movement and has tremendous wit and charm. And, to be sure, it is a challenge.”

REVIEW:

Szeryng was a class act. His tone pure yet full-bodied, his phrasing the product of a rounded and cultivated mind.

-- Gramophone (Reissue/Archive Issue of the Month, December 2021)

A young prodigy, Jean Ter-Merguerian got the “1st Prix” at the Marseille Conservatoire at the age of 11 in the violin class of Gabriel Rey. On May 18, 1947 he undertook his debut as soloist with the Vivaldi Concerto in A minor and Mendelssohn Concerto in E minor with the Orchestre du Conservatoire under the baton of André Audoli. In the same year his family immigrated to Soviet Armenia Republic, where he continued his musical studies in Yerevan with Karp Dombayev and then at the Moscow Conservatory in the class of David Oistrakh. The present release contains never before released recordings by this master.

Pietro Scarpini was that rare combination: a highly intellectual pianist with a virtuoso technique. He was a dignified and solitary person with a serious approach to music, single-mindedly following the course of his artistic convictions without compromise. Musicweb writes: ‘The sixth and final volume of a wonderful recorded legacy. As with the previous volumes, the remasterings are superb in every respect. The whole Scarpini project has been a labor of love for Emilio Pessina and I thank him for his commitment and endeavors.”

The Italian master pianist Pietro Scarpini played Bach's "Die Kunst der Fuge" from memory and was an early pioneer of Schönberg, Berg, Busoni, Dallapiccola and Hindemith. Until now his art remained almost inaccessible. Rhine Classics' complete collection will include 33 albums to comprehensively represent all the significant recordings left by Scarpini, many recorded privately. Musicweb writes: “Scarpini’s legacy can now be seen in all its variety and richness in this series of Rhine releases and this latest example is no less impressive than the previous examples.”

A new enlightening box of mostly live and radio recordings by the intellectual among the pianists: Pietro Scarpini. "A sterling achievement.” “For me, the whole series has been a voyage of discovery [...] In terms of production quality and presentation. The Pietro Scarpini Edition gets my wholehearted recommendation for resuscitating the memory of a long-forgotten artist.” (MusicWeb) Pietro Scarpini was called "a pianist of prodigious capacities" by New York Times critic Olin Downes after the performance of the Prokofiev 2nd concerto. Though he studied conducting at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, as well as composition with Casella, to whom the Busoni Op 54 is dedicated, and with Respighi, it is as a pianist that realized his ultimate talent. Scarpini was a rare combination: a highly intellectual pianist with a virtuoso technique. He was a dignified and solitary person with a serious approach to music, single-mindedly following the course of his artistic convictions without compromise.

HSU Su-lan (Violin). Born in Taiwan, she learned how to play the piano from an early age and started playing violin in a special music class in Taiwan. She studied abroad at The Yehudi Menuhin School since she was 13, and learned from the world-renowned Lord Menuhin, Kremer, Perlman, Mintz, Zukerman, Rostropovich, the Amadeus String Quartet. She received piano lessons from Perlemuter, Nikolayeva, and Mitsuko Uchida, and harpsichord lessons from Pinnock.

Dr. Mark Malkovich III wrote of Sergio Fiorentino: "Sergio Fiorentino was one of the greatest pianists I have ever heard. I realize that this is a big statement, especially since my listening and loving pianists over a period of over half a century. I heard Backhaus, Cherkassky, Kapell, Landowska, Moiseiwitsch, Schnabel and Solomon. I knew Horowitz personally. And I introduced to America in their debut recitals such pianistic luminaries as Bella Davidovich, Andrei Gavrilov, Jean Philippe Collard, Mikhail Pletnev, Igor Zhukov, Ekaterina Novitskaya, Maria Jo�o Pires, Andrea Lucchesini and more than twenty others. I returned to America after absences of many decades such artist as Maria Tipo, Magda Tagliaferro, Dubravka Tom�i, Vlado Perlemuter and Dame Moura Lympany. But it was Sergio Fiorentino's return after forty odd years of first playing in New York City that brought me the greatest satisfaction and moved me deeply... Sergio was immediately loved by Newport and New York audiences. Critics from Boston and New York wrote that his was a throwback to the golden age of Lhevinne, Godowsky and Rachmaninoff himself. Sergio was generous with his time, his artistry and his concern for others... He was an impresario's dream: always playing like a god with no hidden agenda of personal difficulties... " The present release features 9 albums of live recordings made between 1996 and 1998.

Israeli violinist and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Ivry Gitlis enjoyed a long and successful career performing alongside the world’s top orchestras including the London Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. In his latest years, Ivry Gitlis listened to all our restored and remastered audio tracks via video-chats and over the phone, and being very pleased with the final result, he approved them for release, as his greatest wish was that his live legacy would never be forgotten. This present collection has been conceived as a double tribute to Ivry’s art: posthumous, in memoriam of his death, and, in perspective, as a celebration for the centenary of his birth.