Various Composers - Violin Encores [Markov/ Cogan]

It's good to have this compilation disc of violin encores at my disposal, this one delves a little off the beaten track, and some of the pieces are questionable, the Schubert and Gershwin pieces are fairly poor, but at least Markov gives a different take on things, on the whole i think this was a lost opportunity, the track listing could have been greatly improved upon, give me Sarah Chang, Kyung Wha Chung, or Midori any day, they all have superior violin & piano encore discs available which i love.

Alexander Markov is Russian, though he is now an American citizen, i guess he's almost 50 years old today, he recorded this disc in 1993, the front cover is a photo by Jacques Sarrat, almost a mug shot of Markov, violin under chin, and white bow tie, it's actually a really good shot, and amazing that so much is in focus, and nicely bordered by his hair, a clever little shot.

Well i enjoyed tracks 1 & 5-6 the most, the Khachaturian i hardly ever hear, so it was welcome to hear it again, the Kroll was played very fast, too fast to properly take effect, but enjoyable nonetheless, but it was the heavenly Gluck Melodie that i enjoyed the most, this piece has appeared twice before in my Blog, by Sarah Chang [1st June 2011], and Midori [29th July 2010], and it's gorgeous and soothing, but it has a touch of sadness too, on this recording it's a transcription by Kreisler, Markov gets those soaring opening lines right, and yet there's maybe a sense of mystery missing, also he's a tad too loud, drowning out the Pianist, but it's still so beautiful, i'm in heaven whenever i hear this piece.

Here's Renaud Capucon playing Gluck's Melodie on YouTube.

Various Composers - Popular Violin Encores [Chang/Abramovich] 

First of all, just a word about the cover, i didn't like the original cover that this came with, so i cut a picture from the front cover of a magazine [BBC Music Magazine - February 2004], rubbed some transfer lettering on it, and hey presto!, a really nice cover [it was originally called 'Simply Sarah'], but it's the music on the disc that's so good and varied, it's one of those discs, that even though it has 14 different Composers on it, there still feels this idea that they all belong together, there's this coherence here.

Sarah Chang is of course a violin superstar now, she finally hit her thirties, and shrugged off the child prodigy, she actually made this album in 1996 when she was still 15, my self made booklet cover is a close-cropped photo of Sarah in a thoughtful pose.

Well i found this so inspirational, it's full of lots of my favourites, one Encore after another i was thrilled, my favourite tracks were 1-2, 6 & 11-12, here's a short summary of each piece,

1 Bazzini - Dance Of The Goblins, a piece of sheer virtuoso brilliance, very fast playing by Chang [0:37-0:41], nice whoops of high sharp singing notes, and pizzicato strums too [2:22-2:43], and impossibly high notes [3:49-4:01], with a stunning bravura finale to it.
2 Paganini - Cantibile, the opposite of the first piece, sweetly lyrical, inflamed and impassioned, it's probably my most favourite encore, the sweeping flow of the piece right from the start is so compelling, and the sheer intensity of feeling that she generates at its climax [1:00-1:29], just an achingly stunning piece. 
6 Dinicu - Hora Staccato, a lovely agitated piece, it has a gypsy feel to it, lots of fast bowing, 'wrong' out of tune notes [0:33-1:06], especially by the piano [1:26-1:37], it's really short at under 2 minutes, and the ending is so inspired, very much an anti-climax on a soft yet abrupt pizzicato note, and yet so perfectly ends the piece on a nice controversy.
11 Gluck - Melodie, another highly inspired lyrical piece, much like the earlier Paganini Cantibile, it's also known as 'Dance of the Blessed Spirits', this is a mournful lament, with superb aching and longing [0:53+], long legato lines, a nice singing tone from Chang, there's moments of pure regret [2:07+], it's sad but makes me happy!.
12 Kroll - Banjo and Fiddle, an upbeat piece, the key is in its title, it switches from pizzicato 'banjo' to bowing 'fiddle', constantly going back and forth, and it certainly has humour too [2:17-2:25], with what sounds like a nice laugh at the end.
This is one of the very best violin and piano encore discs that i own.

Various Composers - Violin Encores! [Midori/ McDonald]

First off the booklet, what a gorgeous picture of Midori, it's everything yesterdays booklet should be and is not, a lovely meditative study by William Coupon, in lovely browns and oranges, very nicely lit to create lovely shadows, and the art design [lettering] is by Josephine DiDonato, only the Sony logo seems slightly out of place, full marks for creating something as visually stimulating as is aurally stimulating on the inside.

This is a great varied collection, i wish Midori would have recorded single items only, the Shostakovich and Bartok 'sets' sort of get in the way, there's truly great pieces on here, while others are somewhat average, it's also good to have pieces that are fairly rare as well.

The tracks/pieces i enjoyed the most are 3, 6, 12, 17 & 19, track 19 'Dance Of The Blessed Spirits' by Gluck [arranged by Kreisler] hit me the most, it starts off so solemn and restrained, the melody is truly otherworldly [0:00-0:35], the piece becomes more passionate and intense [0:35-0:54], and then the theme goes into a sort of coda-ish phase [0:54-1:14], where the resolution finds its peace, it's this untangling of knots that is a highlight for me, especially at 1:03 [1:15 on the video below], the piano in the background is gentle and rolling, the piece continues to weave its magic around this opening theme for another two minutes, it's one of those truly inspired moments in Classical music, and it's been transcribed for many other combinations as well.

Here's Renaud Capucon playing Dance Of The Blessed Spirits by Gluck on YouTube.