Monday 8 September 2008

Sunday was violin day, thanks to Michael in Germany. The fact that I could listen with pleasure to four hours of violin recitals pays great tribute to the skill of the (long-gone) violinists of other generations. Difficult to imagine inflicting four hours of the likes of Tasmin Little or Gil Shaham on my poor ears.

Jeanne Gautier (21 tracks including the Ravel sonata) and Devy Erlih (Ravel, including sonata, plus Kreisler) made me warm once again to the old French school, with its bon ton, fluidity, variety of tone and bowing and immaculate taste. All the pieces were played at the "old" tempi (ie, before things began to slow down in the 1950s in the name of soulful expressivity).

Christian Ferras and Pierre Barbizet, caught at their zenith in Germany on German radio in 1954, 56 and 57 underlined just how much we lost with Ferras's decline soon after. His playing was as natural as breathing, and he and Barbizet form a perfect team in this CD of Mozart, Kreisler and Schubert, with Ferras contributing a world-beating Bach third unaccompanied sonata (Frankfurt, 1956).

Then off to California. Frances Berkova, in acoustic recordings of nine short pieces, brings a breath of the old world. Her daughter, Saundra, plays six pieces in the 1940s when she was 14 and 15 (with S-S Havanaise from 1956). What an incredible child prodigy! Unlike the French players above, there is not much evidence of her enjoying the music, nor the violin. Her playing is much like that of a gifted chimpanzee -- all imitation. But what a chimpanzee! No one has ever played the violin with greater technical ease and perfection. As often, Los Angeles and its show-biz environment proved inimical to artistic development, and Saundra vanished from the visible scene after being caught in a drug bust in 1957.

Remaining on the waiting pile from Michael's haul are Henryk Szeryng in 17 short pieces from 1949, and Cecilia Hansen in the Frank sonata from 1953. It all makes a change from Bach and Handel, but three new Handel operas are on the for-listening pile at the moment ... As a p.s., it is really exciting that Europe' radio stations are unearthing good recordings of classical broadcasts from the past fifty years. Think of the treasures that must still be awaiting issue!




5 comments:

Discobole said...

Greetings,

I just discovered your blog. You say you listened to a Jeanne Gautier record. I thought there was none other than the one I had made for my own consumption with France Musique broadcasts and a few 78 rpm.
Which Cd were you listening to?
I will post these pieces on my music blog (http://lesparolesgelees.blogspot.com)
but not before summer, as they are not with me now.

Harry Collier said...

Oh dear; my careless writing. The CD, including the piece by Jeanne Gautier, has 21 tracks -- of which Gautier is only one.
The CD is a compilation, made in Japan, "from the library of Christopher N. Nozawa". It is called "French Violinists: Historical Recordings" and has tracks from Yvonne Curti, Renée Chemet, Jeanne Gautier, Jean Champeil, Miguel Candela, Roland Charmy, René Benedetti, Yvonne Astruc, Denise Soriano, Henri Merckel, Ginette Neveu, Jacques Thibaud, Jules Bucherit, William Cantrelle and Gabriel Bouillon.

Gautier plays just the Danse Espagnole from de Falla's Vida Breve. I'm sorry if I confused you.

Discobole said...

false hopes!!! Don't be sorry, it happens all the time, isn't it?
so, my post will be of interest!....
One day...

Unknown said...

I recently came cross this, Discobole:

http://yayosalvaclasicos.blogspot.com/2007/08/maurice-ravel-sonata-para-violn-y-piano.html

Bon dimanche

Harry Collier said...

Ah, that has made my dimanche matin! Vraiment merci. All downloaded and stored. Very kind of you to have thought of me.

Harry