Itzhak Perlman – Encores: virtuoso perfomances of works by Paganini, Wieniawski, Sarasate, Rachmaninov, Kreisler (2015) [Qobuz FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

Itzhak Perlman – Encores: virtuoso perfomances of works by Paganini, Wieniawski, Sarasate, Rachmaninov, Kreisler (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:38:08 minutes | 1,81 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Master, Official Digital Download – Source: Qobuz | Artwork: Digital Booklet | © Parlophone Records/Warner Classics
Recorded: Abbey Road Studios, London, 5-7 November 1972 (tracks 1-13); Kingsway Hall, London, 23-24 February 1978 (tracks 14-18, 20-26); Philadelphia, 10 November 1978 (track 19)

Although “encores” were very fashionable between the wars, they later began to be seen as perhaps less worthy than other, more substantial works. It was Itzhak Perlman, whose repertoire of these charming or virtuosic miniatures is more extensive than that of any other violinist of his generation, who did the most to restore their former prestige. There was even a time when, to his audiences’ delight, he would fill the entire second half of a recital with them, picking pieces at random (or at least giving the impression of doing so!) from a pile of scores on the piano and announcing the titles himself from the stage. No one could resist the kind of firework display that he would crown with a fiery performance of Bazzini’s Ronde des lutins, tearing through the music with disconcerting ease, communicating with the audience with his facial expressions as much as his playing. Unlike some of his predecessors — chief among them Kreisler and Heifetz — he has not written any encores himself, or made many arrangements, with the exception of Scott Joplin’s Ragtimes (see volume 10), and yet as a performer he has explored every corner of this particular musical universe. As early as 1965, a very young Perlman recorded a selection of pieces by Bloch, Paganini, Sarasate and Bazzini for RCA, although for some reason they were only released in 2004. Then, in 1972 and 1978, he recorded the two complete albums of encores for EMI that appear on this reissue. In the meantime he had added three Kreisler LPs to his incredible collection of miniatures (volume 12), establishing the foundations of a repertoire on which he continued to build over the years as he discovered new gems of the genre (volumes 23, 39, 43, 50 & 53). As well as works by the most eminent virtuoso-composers in the history of the violin, men such as Paganini, Sarasate, Vieuxtemps and Wieniawski, all suitably represented here, Perlman has also enthusiastically plundered the most diverse sources in search of new inspiration. From Debussy to Ben-Haim, via Novácˇek, Rachmaninov, Foster and Godowsky, every piece is a delight, and a reminder that alongside the grand concertos and sonatas of the core repertoire there exist a myriad of little marvels, all competing with one another for charm, skill and inventiveness, representing an indispensable and wonderfully mouthwatering side to the violin literature. In this anthology of pieces by turns gentle, funny, heart-rending, straightforwardly mischievous or resolutely diabolical, Perlman reveals his innermost soul and a thousand-faceted talent. With such a display of matchless generosity, assurance, humour and sheer joie de vivre, it is perhaps in such music that he appears most radically different from the other violinists of his time. -Jean-Michel Molkhou

Tracklist:

Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962)
1. Prelude and Allegro in the style of Pugnani 05:27

Pablo de Sarasate (1844-1908)
2. Danzas españolas: Romanza andaluza, Op. 22, No. 1 03:49

Ottokar Novácek (1866-1900)
3. Perpetuum mobile, Op. 5, No. 4 02:46

Paul Ben-Haïm (1897-1984)
4. Berceuse sfaradite 03:45

Henryk Wieniawski (1835-1880)
5. Polonaise de Concert, Op. 4 04:41

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
6. No. 8, La fille aux cheveux de lin 02:38

Giuseppe Tartini (1692-1770)
7. Variations on a theme by Corelli 03:18

Edgar Daniel del Valle (1861-1920)
8. Ao pé da fogueira (Prelude XV) 01:22

Sergei Rachmaninow (1873-1943)
9. Vocalise, Op. 34, No. 14 04:57

Henryk Wieniawski (1835-1880)
10. Scherzo tarantelle, Op. 16 04:33

Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
11. Romance in A Major, Op. 94, No. 2 04:12