Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Eugene Ormandy, Jean Morel :: Zino Francescatti Plays Beethoven

Earlier is good, but later is simply so much better.

Discophage | France | 12/30/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Listening to recordings of Beethoven's Violin Concerto from the past, I tend to go by pairs, makes and remakes: Wolfsthal-Thierfelder circa 1925 (Biddulph, Beethoven, Mendelssohn: Violin Concertos) and Wofsthal-Gurlitt circa 1928 (Symposium, The Great Violinists Vol.6), Kreisler-Blech 1926 (Music & Arts, Fritz Kreisler Early Recordings) and Kreisler-Barbirolli 1936 (Biddulph, Kreisler Plays Beethoven, a partial reissue of a marvelous Kreisler 3-CD set which was Biddulph's first release, LAB001-3, listed on the UK Sister company as ASIN B000027ONO); Szigeti Walter 1932 (I have it on a valuable Dante set listed only in Europe, ASIN B000026CK9, with all of Walter's pre-war, pre-US Beethoven recordings) and Szigeti Walter 1947 (Beethoven: Violin Concerto; Violin Sonata No. 5 "spring"); Heifetz-Toscanini 1940 (Beethoven: Violin Concerto; Piano Concerto No. 3) and Heifetz-Munch 1955 (Heifetz Plays Beethoven & Brahms); Menuhin-Furtwangler 1947 or 1953 and Menuhin-Silvestri 1959, Oistrakh-Ehrling 1954 and Oistrakh-Cluytens 1958, Milstein-Steinberg 1955 and Milstein-Leinsdorf 1961, Kogan-Vandernoot 1957 and Kogan-Silvestri 1961, Ferras-Sargent 1959 and Ferras-Karajan 1967 and I could go on. All these performers witnessed radical changes in recording techniques, from acoustical to electrical 78rpms, from 78rpms to mono LP, from mono to stereo, and I find it interesting to compare the makes and the remakes, hear how artists evolved, assess if they have radically changed their approach.



Oftentimes, conventional wisdom is that the earlier and less easily accessible version is the better one, that it was superseded by the newer one only by dint of its improved sonic qualities but not because of its interpretive merits. And sure, since the earlier version is not accessible, nobody can check. Listening comparatively to these recordings, I find that it is sometimes true (Szigeti's tonal production had deteriorated by 1947), oftentimes not, as in the case of Wolfstahl, Kreisler, Oistrakh, Ferras - without any implication that the earlier version is "bad": only the newer one is better, and this Francescatti-Ormandy recording from 1950 is a good case in point.



Francescatti re-recorded the Concerto in 1961 with Bruno Walter and the Columbia Symphony Orchestra (Walter's third and last studio recording after the two with Szigeti) and that version superseded the earlier one (Beethoven, Sibelius: Violin Concertos). Yet the liner notes to the Biddulph reissue contend that the 1950 recording "is the more masterful version" - mainly on account of Ormandy and the Philadelphians.



Well, as fine as that is as a sell pitch, on close comparison I don't agree. Ormandy may be oh so slightly more muscular than Walter in the Concerto's introduction, but Walter (by no means a slouch anyway) easily compensates with more crispness in the woodwinds and lovingly-molded phrasings. I entirely disagree again with the conventional wisdom that has it that Walter's pick-up band (most of the times from California, but I don't think it was always the case) called the "Columbia Symphony Orchestra" was an inferior ensemble. On his Beethoven recordings, they play with more crispness and precision of articulation than the New Yorkers from the mono era. Overall Ormandy and Walter's conceptions are very similar (and Walter didn't change much either since his Szigeti years, gaining only more discipline in his approach to tempo, and more crispness and precision in his orchestral playing), and close to Kreisler's (whose cadenzas Francescatti plays, both times), and the opposite pole from Heifetz: broad and easy-going (which doesn't preclude muscular utterances in the orchestral tuttis), taking time to breathe and sing in the more lyrical moments, with a Larghetto taken more as a Largo and a finale that is rhythmically robust but not fast.



And the sonics! They make a huge difference. As fine as Biddulph's transfers are (that is, for transfers from the LP and not from the original tapes, if ever these remain somewhere in Sony's vaults; to broach upon a comment from the previous reviewer, I don't think this reissue has anything to do with licensing agreements, but only with 50-year copyright lapse), they are simply no match for the wonderful 1961 stereo presence and naturalness; especially in the slow movement, they sound in comparison muffled and uni-dimensional; the dialogues of woodwinds and horns with the soloist in 1961 have incomparable presence and character.



Those sonics make a huge difference not only with the orchestra, but with the soloist as well. Francescatti was the ideal partner to Walter's loving and human conception and, as captured in 1961, his tone is purer, more angelic than in Biddulph's transfer of the 1950 recording. In the ensuing 11 years he also corrected the minuscule but not infrequent finger slips of his earlier self (Mr Richman must NOT have listened again to the 1961 version when he wrote of Francecatti that "his technique is much stronger here than it is in that later reading"; if anything, it is the other way around!). In 1961 he has also abandoned the minuscule and very discreet portamento that he applied in 1950 on the octave leaps - not that I mind those, they are expressive, if a bit stylistically old-fasioned. What has changed though is the overall approach to the finale: though the timings are within seconds of each other (at least up until the cadenza; Ormandy whips up the coda more than Walter), the earlier version is grittier and with bigger tone and more bow pressure, the later one lighter-bowed and more elegant. I have no preference (the ideal would be an impossible combination of both, really).



So, while I am grateful to Biddulph from bringing this recording back and letting me judge with my own ears, I'll stick to the 1961 version, which is a classic for the ages. The earlier one is really for completists.



What it does offer though (to completists) is Francescatti's only recording of the two Romances, made with Jean Morel in 1952. They take a traditional view of them, with broad tempos, solemnizing the music maybe a little more than it deserves, making it kin to Mozart's Two Armored Men scene or entrance of the three kids in The Magic Flute (as conducted by Böhm, Klemperer or Furtwängler, I mean). Francescatti plays with a husky tone that is almost evocative of a viola.



TT 59:39."

Fabulous Francescatti

Michael B. Richman | Portland, Maine USA | 09/04/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"When I began seriously collecting classical CDs nearly ten years ago, one of the first great values I came across was "Zino Francescatti: Great Violin Concertos," a 2CD title in Sony's Masterworks Heritage series that I picked up in the clearance section of the Columbia House CD Club for a whopping $1.99! Of course, now that set is out-of-print, and fetching ludicrous sums in the Amazon Marketplace -- I should've bought a dozen. While some of Francescatti's classic recordings are being reissued (Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto; Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto -- see my review), most of his recordings now owned by Sony unfortunately have been deleted.



Curiously though, a few years back many old Columbia mono recordings began appearing in the Biddulph catalog. I assume this is an EMI/Testament type licensing arrangement, but in any event it is wonderful to see these classic recordings resurface with a reputable company producing them. Of course, full-price for a historical performance is a bit much even for connoisseurs. So when I saw several of these titles appear in the Berkshire Record Outlet catalog a couple of months back, I couldn't pass up getting this disc (and others) at drastically reduced prices.



At the time of this 1950 recording of the Beethoven Violin Concerto (with Ormandy/Philadelphia), Francescatti was matched only by Heifetz in popularity in the U.S., as Oistrakh was still mostly unknown to western audiences. The violinist is at the height of his powers in this reading, and while his 1962 stereo remake with Bruno Walter (on Sony Essential Classics -- get that one before it goes OOP too!) might sound crisper overall, his technique is much stronger here than it is in that later reading. The two Beethoven Romances (with Jean Morel leading the ad hoc Columbia Symphony Orchestra -- Francescatti's only recording of the works) get this disc off to a quiet start, but once the Concerto kicks in, you're in for a real treat. And if you can still purchase this CD from Berkshire, it will be an even sweeter one!"