Search - Niccolo Paganini, Charles Dutoit, London Philharmonic Orchestra :: Paganini: Violin Concertos

Absolutely stunning ....

Martin Dittmann | Czech Republic | 03/29/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have had an opportunity to listen to Paganini's 1st (less freq. the 2nd) concerto many times(Markov,Perlman,Francescatti, Gitlis,Ricci,Menuhin,Grimaux etc.) and I can assure you that Accardo - especially his cadenza - is far the best I have ever heard and you can hear today. Accardo doesn't plays his fastest and doesn't show off his amazing technique like most of the other violinist (although he is able to play twice as fast as he shows here...) but he devotes all the technique to the needs of music and this is what's so amazing about him. He prizes precision and lyricism mostand his fascinating technique is just the servant, not the lord of music. Also notice that he never skips anything or never just plays something messily - even in the most difficult and fastest parts you can hear simply every single tone. By the way, no other violinist in the world has ever recorded (and played) so much of Paganini's music...well,to tell you the truth,Accardo played and recorded everything that came down from Paganini's time! If you don't know yet, you can find more in Deutche Grammophon catalogue (Accardo play various variations - "God Save the King" etc. - when you hear it, you will believe that he is the same "devil" as Paganini was thought to be) or check the EMI's title "Works for violin and orchestra" where Accardo for instance plays Paganini's Carnevale di Venezia" the way that keeps your mouth opened... As for his concertos again, I really do wonder who else next dares to record all the 6 concertos, Capprices and all the other works of Paganini. I consider Mr.Accardo to be one of the best violin player that were ever born."

Oh Yea!

A. Rohlev | Los Alamos, NM USA | 01/27/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Wonderful performance of wonderful music. Salvatore Accardo not only performs it perfectly but also with the necessary amount of emotion and abandon required for playing Paganini. Any soloist recording for DG or EMI, RCA, etc. is required to give a flawless performance but this music demands more. Lets say, for us car nuts, that a proper performance of this music should make you feel like your driving a Ferrari. A bright red Ferrari. A 12-cyl, adrenaline injected, 600 hp, Italian piece of art. It should make you feel like your driving through the Alps, at 150 mph, with the top down, and yes, Cindy Crawford in the passenger seat just begging you to slow down! Salvatore Accardo's performance does this for me, not all performers can. The volume begs to be turned up.By contrast, Sarah Chang's performance of the first Concerto makes me feel like I'm driving a Camry, at the speed limit, across Iowa, with Julia Childs politely asking me to speed it up a little. Don't get me wrong it's perfectly nice, played with Sino-perfection, but it's the acoustical equivalent of Sominex.Anyway you will not regret buying this CD, and besides for all 6 Concertos, it's a bargain."

Pure genius-pure brilliance-and under-appreciated

Martin Dittmann | 11/24/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Most musicologists consider Paganini to be the greatest violinist the world has ever known. He essentially created techniques for his instrument that were unheard of before him, and to this day, his compositions define the technical limitations of the violin. In essence, he was the first virtuoso of any instrument. He made Liszt want to make the piano sound like his violin and made others so jealous of his abilities that they said he was possesed. Paganini is a paragon of the 19th century Romantic virtuoso. Unfortunately, his violin concertos have not received the same attention as his brilliant technical gifts and his famous cappricios. What one finds on these 3 cd's is perhaps some of the most wonderful, and dramatically challenging pieces ever written for the violin. In fact, Schubert admired Paganini's compositional abilities so much that he once said that Paganini's compositions made the violin sing like an angel. These cd's show that Paganini was more than just a technical wizard. He created beautiful violin concertos that stand up musically on their own. The pure joy and brilliance of these pieces will astonish you. Salvatore Accardo's playing is flawless and simply mind boggling! I have found myself enjoying and playing these 6 concerti far more often than violin concerti by Beethoven, Mozart, etc., etc. It was only until the 1970's when any of Paganini's 6 violin concerti were recorded on a major label! Paganini is slowy gaining more popularity and is destined to get the respect he deserves in musical history as a first rate composer thanks to releases like this one. Now, when will the concert halls of Europe and America wake up and start performing Paganini's music? I predict that once you here these recordings, you will realize that it is just a matter of time. After all, this music once completely dazzled and entranced audiances all across Europe and made Paganini famous and much respeted.-----NO CLASSICAL LIBRARY SHOULD BE WITHOUT THIS RECORDING."