Ion Voicu

The Australian Eloquence label is doing good work re-issuing Decca recordings from the 1950s, 60s and 70s. In that way, major artists who had almost vanished from view can return to the sonic stage. The latest Eloquence pair of CDs to join my collection is highly welcome, since it brings back Ion Voicu in excellent sound in recordings from the 1960s and early 1970s. Superb playing and a good selection of music, with the concertos of Mendelssohn and Bruch (G minor) plus duo works by Ravel, Enescu, Debussy and Milhaud.

Born in Romania in 1923, Voicu was another major musician born at the wrong time and in the wrong place as regards being able to have a major career. He was a marvellous violinist; dead accurate intonation, impeccable bowing, excellent musicianship and with that soft almost crooning violin sound typical of many who grew up in Hungary or Romania during the first half of the last century. I particularly enjoyed his rendition of the Mendelssohn concerto, played “straight” with no indulgence in the over-inflation that plagues so many performances of this agreeable work. In particular, it's good to hear the andante played as an andante, and not at the speed of a 96 year old walking up a steep slope. Voicu, like others such as Heifetz and Tianwa Yang, keeps “walking” in this second movement and the music is all the better for it. There are a few more Voicu recordings hiding away in the shadows; let us hope that someone gets hold of them and re-issues them in good sound.