Various Composers - Bohemian Rhapsodies / Violin Showpieces [Josefowicz/Marriner-Academy Of Saint Martin In The Fields] I listened to this disc on the way to Church yesterday, i love these 'Violin Showpieces' albums, full of half a dozen concertante pieces that last roughly 10 minutes each, i have similar discs by Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell, and Anne Sophie Mutter, each one is a gem, there's something about a bunch of shorter pieces, instead of a fully fledged Violin Concerto, you rather get one movement worth of music, and the essence of great things can be said in a shorter space of time.
Leila Josefowicz is a Canadian Violinist, she was born in 1977, and she recorded this disc in 1997 when she was 20, the booklet is actually one of those fold out poster things [i really don't like them, they so easily get creased], but the booklet visuals are excellent, and it sees the Philips label getting away from their maroon logo at the top of the front booklet, of course we all know where the title 'Bohemian Rhapsodies' came from!, but it's still a clever title, the front cover shows a breathless Josefowicz, really well caught.
The two pieces i really liked were the first and last, very much at opposite ends of the spectrum, and not just in the track listing, the Sarasate is a virtuoso showpiece, almost employing every trick in the book to excite, while the Chausson is quiet and refrained, employing the talents of lyricism to make its point, it actually makes sense to finish the programme with the barnstorming Sarasate, a great send off, but here Josefowicz does the opposite, i think today i actually liked the Sarasate better.
Pablo De Sarasate [1844-1908] was a virtuoso showman of the Violin, very much in the vein of Paganini, and his most famous composition is a Fantasy on the themes of Bizet's Carmen, split into five sections, an Aragonaise, a Haberna, an Interlude, a Seguidilla, and a Gypsy Dance,
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