Voted Young British Classical Performer of the Year at the 2006 Classical Brits, Alison Balsom follows her critically-acclaimed album Bach: Works for Trumpet with Caprice, a novel and demanding program of specially arranged popular classical works. The album features sparkling transcriptions of Mozart's 'Rondo alla Turca' and the Queen of the Night's aria (from the Magic Flute) as well as the scintillating 'Variations on Bellini's Norma' by the French virtuoso Jean-Baptiste Arban. Amongst the more lyrical numbers, Balsom plays arrangements of Rachmaninov's haunting Vocalise and the exquisite Nocturne from Tomasi's Trumpet Concerto. She also brings her unique sound to two pieces played by the trumpet alone: Paganini's well-known violin Caprice No.24 and Debussy's Syrinx.
The Heifetz Collection Vol 26 - Mozart / Piatigorsky, Et Al
RCA
CD
$17.99May 13, 2010
Jascha Heifetz was larger than life, but was he too big for Mozart? The stern patrician of the violin, with his intense, laser-beam intonation and diamond-hard tone, would seem ideally suited for the big romantic concertos for which he was famous, but any fears that he would be mismatched with Mozart will be allayed immediately upon hearing his serene entry in the first movement of the "Turkish" Concerto, not to mention the delicate interplay that follows, by turns witty and sensuous. For the only time in his career, Heifetz is both conductor and soloist, making this the most involving of his recordings of the work. Unlike many virtuosos of his time, Heifetz had no qualms about appearing publicly in chamber ensembles. And, with violist William Primrose and cellist Gregor Piatigorsky, he formed a sort of permanent yet flexible supergroup that gave regular concerts in Los Angeles throughout the 1960s. These players, along with violist Virginia Majewski and legendary Hollywood session violinist Israel Baker, are heard in the G minor String Quintet, a work with intimations of the 19th century, here given a taut, urgent, almost Beethovenesque performance.
Drawn from the worldwide holdings of Sony Classical Music and re-mastered in 24bit High Resolution Audio, these smart, desirable and collectible EU (Germany) pressed import multi-disc editions, replete with legendary artists, offer many of the finest, most sought-after recordings in the classical discography. The slender, shelf-friendly box frontages feature large, prominently displayed photos of the edition’s featured artist, work listings at the back, with the CDs themselves housed in protective sleeves that divulge the recording specifics for each performance.
Violin legend Jascha Heifetz “represented a potent manifestation of musical integrity combined with tonal and intonational purity, technical discipline, virtuosity and intellectual honesty,” declared Gramophone in a 1994 assessment of his achievement, “whether in unaccompanied Bach … or in the countless miniatures that he infused with a wealth of wit and feeling.” Now Sony Classical has compiled a special 5-CD box of Heifetz playing his “Favourite Encore and Recital Pieces”. It includes sonatas by Beethoven (the “Kreutzer”), Franck, Saint-Saëns and Richard Strauss, as well as Schubert’s C major Fantasy and movements from Bach’s E major Partita and his D minor Chaconne – plus the great violinist’s own captivating transcriptions of miniatures: selections from Porgy and Bess, Carnival of the Animals and pieces by Debussy, Ravel, Prokofiev, Falla and Walton.
Fenella Humphreys turned time spent in lockdown to good use preparing this fascinating and eclectic program of caprices. A collection ranging from Paganini to a wide selection of contemporary composers, some of whom contribute not only individual works, but who joined together for a splendid composite set of variations on Paganini's famous 24th caprice. With notes on their music by the composers, and comments on Paganini, Kreisler, and Bacewicz by Fenella, this is a personal, daring and exciting album of dazzling virtuosity.
Castelnuovo-tedesco: Concerto No 2; Khachaturian / Heifetz
RCA
CD
$17.99Jul 18, 2007
We come now to more modern fare, and firstly to a very colourful, immediately enjoyable work in Castelnuovo-Tedesco's Second Violin Concerto, written for Heifetz in 1933. This work is sub-titled I profeti (''The Prophets'') and the names of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Elijah head its three movements. Heifetz clearly relishes the score's attractive lyricism, and Wallenstein's conducting is full of personality too. The 1954 stereo recording is more than adequate. Howard Ferguson wrote his First Violin Sonata in 1931, when he was 23. This is a gently flowing, somewhat reflective piece, apart from a brief central Allegro furioso movement, to which Heifetz responds with alacrity. Elsewhere his rather sharp-toned, virtuoso approach tends to be somewhat at odds with the work's nature, and a rather close 1966 recording does not help. He is more suited to the early Sonata of Karen Khachaturian, who is Aram Khachaturian's nephew. On the evidence of this work, like his uncle, Karen writes in an outgoing, vigorous, uncomplicated style, which Heifetz plays in a cheerful, extrovert fashion. The recording was made at the same sessions as the Ferguson sonata. Francaix's String Trio is a typically brief, slight, but cleverly written piece, and here Heifetz and his two colleagues relax to give a delightfully spry, pithy performance, which is matched with a good 1964 recording. . . .
Heifetz was without doubt a uniquely gifted artist. It has been a very rich experience for me to explore these five discs, and I can do no more than give them the highest possible recommendation.
-- Gramophone [from a review of five titles featuring Jascha Heifetz]
Jascha Heifetz Collection, Vol. 5: The 1911 Russian Recordin
Doremi
CD
$20.99Feb 17, 2017
Jascha Heifetz (1901-1987) was a Lithuanian-born violinist, who is considered by many music scholars to have been the greatest violinist of all time. He moved to the United States as a teenager, where his Carnegie Hall debut was famously well-received. A virtuoso since childhood, Fritz Kreisler, another leading twentieth century violinist, wrote upon hearing Heifetz’s debut: “We might as well take our fiddles and break them across our knees.” This is the fifth volume from DOREMI of historic Heifetz recordings, and features the newly discovered recordings of the ten-year-old Jascha, made in Russia in 1911. It is their first release in 105 years.
A Tribute To Jascha Heifetz (2015) Itzhak Perlman, Samuel Sanders "The first person in my evolution is Jascha Heifetz," Itzhak Perlman told The Strad magazine, "... Heifetz created a tradition for himself." In this tribute Perlman - who has also now created his own tradition - performs pieces arranged by the legendary Lithuanian-born violinist.
A supreme virtuoso, the French violinist, composer and teacher Emile Sauret was acclaimed by the greatest musicians of the century, including Sarasate and Liszt. He wrote a series of charming genre pieces (available on Naxos 8.572366) but also a sequence of 24 Etudes-Caprices which marry virtuosity with every expressive opportunity available to the instrument. The result is one of the unsung but major cycles for solo violin spanning all twenty-four keys. The Azerbaijani-born British violin virtuoso, soloist, recitalist, chamber musician and orchestral director Nazrin Rashidova made her solo debut at the age of three in Baku and was awarded a gold medal by the Cairo Opera House for an exceptional violin recital three years later. Establishing FeMusa in 2008, Britain’s first female chamber orchestra in sixty years, is merely the latest in a series of achievements. She entered the Royal Academy of Music in London at the age of fifteen, where she had the privilege to play on a rare collection of violins by Antonio Stradivari. She studied with professors Erich Gruenberg, Felix Andrievsky and Lydia Mordkovitch. A prizewinner in several international competitions, she has appeared on international television and radio, played for royalty and other dignitaries, and has also performed in the US, Japan, Europe, and the Middle East.
Jascha Heifetz (1901-1987) was a Lithuanian-born violinist, who is considered by many music scholars to have been the greatest violinist of all time. He moved to the United States as a teenager, where his Carnegie Hall debut was famously well-received. A virtuoso since childhood, Fritz Kreisler, another leading twentieth century violinist, wrote upon hearing Heifetz’s debut: “We might as well take our fiddles and break them across our knees.” This is the first volume from DOREMI of monumental historic broadcasts of Jascha Heifetz, made at the pinnacle of his artistry, and includes 1932 Bell Laboratories test recordings in superb sound. This album received the coveted Diapason d'Or in France.
Jascha Heifetz (1901-1987) was a Lithuanian-born violinist, who is considered by many music scholars to have been the greatest violinist of all time. He moved to the United States as a teenager, where his Carnegie Hall debut was famously well-received. A virtuoso since childhood, Fritz Kreisler, another leading twentieth century violinist, wrote upon hearing Heifetz’s debut: “We might as well take our fiddles and break them across our knees.” This is the third volume from DOREMI of momentous 1930s and 1940s broadcasts of Jascha Heifetz, recorded at the pinnacle of his artistry. The New York 1935 Brahms violin concerto performance with Arturo Toscanini conducting is arguably the finest performance of this concerto since its composition in 1878. This album won the coveted Diapason d’Or award in France.
Highly virtuosic, intense and passionate: Gran Caprice - these are works for violin written by violinists for violinists. Maxim Brilinsky shows lyrical lines - with the possibilities of bowing and fingering technique utilised to the utmost.
Ernst von Dohnanyi was one of the most versatile and influential musicians of his time but his works are now seldom played. A gap which Capriccio want to fill now with this already eight recording of his late romantical, sensual music, deeply rooted in the Austro-German classical tradition. His Symphony No. 2 is a colossal work, lasting around an hour and calling for an extraordinarily large orchestra. The composition coincided with his departure from war-torn Hungary during World War II. Ruralia Hungarica, written in 1923 and arranged for orchestra in the following year, makes use of familiar Hungarian folk-melodies, some of them known abroad through their appearance in the work of other Hungarian composers.
The Heifetz Collection Vol 19 - 51 Miniatures 1944-1946
RCA
CD
$24.99Jun 02, 2011
"One of the great things about Jascha Heifetz," said violinist Aaron Rosand in a recent interview, "... is that, musically speaking, he always got straight to the point." Quite so. And with that pertinent remark very much in mind, let me first of all put my own critical cards on the table: Jascha Heifetz was, for me and for most violinists I've spoken to, the greatest twentieth-century exponent of his instrument. In saying that, I don't necessarily mean, 'the greatest violin-playing musician' (Busch, Szigeti and Huberman are prime contenders for that particular accolade) or even 'the most lustrous-sounding violinist' ( where Kreisler and Elman could perhaps take equal laurels). Heifetz represented a potent manifestation of musical integrity combined with tonal and intonational purity, technical discipline, virtuosity and intellectual honesty. And yes, he did invariably 'get straight to the point', whether in unaccompanied Bach,...or in the countless miniatures that he infused with a wealth of wit and feeling, making Kurt Weill dance, Gershwin sing and Cyril Scott lose himself in nostalgic reverie.
She was Igor Stravinsky's piano teacher and studied herself with Anton Rubinstein. But to this day, her compositions have remained in the shadow of the great male masters-a fate that many women of this era share with her. Although her oeuvre is nowhere near as comprehensive as that of her composing colleagues, these few works still demonstrate incredible talent, mature skill, and a deeply romantic Russian sound language that is so typical of this time.
