Sunday 19 June 2011

The cradle of violin playing extended from the Ukraine and the Black Sea, to Venice and northern Italy, then across to Hungary, then south again to Romania. This is where luthiers Jews, gypsies and folk bands grew up and cross-fertilised. The violin (like the clarinet) was popular because they were portable; when the gendarmes or vigilantes turned up, you could put your fiddle under your arm and melt away into the forests and mountains.

All lovers of the violin should possess a copy of Patricia Kopatinchskaya's “Rapsodia” CD. Miss K is from Moldova and, amongst other things, this CD presents “definitive” versions of Enescu's third sonata, Dinicu's Hora Staccato (leaving aside Dinicu's own version, for the moment) and Ravel's Tzigane pastiche. Compulsive listening, and, as the jargon has it, “seminal” for lovers of violin playing.

No comments: