Zino Francescatti
Sun, Aug 21 2011, 8:06AM
Has anyone heard of or listened to violinist Zino Francescatti? I don´t think that he is that well-known, but he has made many recordings, most of them for CBS, for example the Beethoven Violin concerto together with Bruno Walter. I have a couple of his recordings on vinyl and I would really like to mention one of them, and that is the Brahms Violin concerto, which he recorded with Leonard Bernstein conducting the New York PO. It has become a desert island disc for me. Francescatti plays utterly beautiful and soulful, and Bernstein provides great orchestral playing. I looked up Amazon and it is avaiable coupled with the Sibelius Violin concerto, also conducted by Bernstein with NYPO.
I think this is not to be missed by lovers of this most beautiful concerto.
Mon, Aug 22 2011, 5:40PM
#2
RE: Zino Francescatti
I totally agree with Otello- Francescatti has a wonderful sweet lyrical tone ( with fastish vibrato). Some years ago I bought a double CD in New York ( don't know if it ever got issued here), one of the Masterworks Heritage series complete with reproductions of the original LP inner sleeves ( " Variable groove..a technical note" and "Comparative Life of Needle Stylus" ( sic)!). And no fake Columbia "360 sound"- all tracks are in mono.
ZF plays the Mendelssohn, Bruch 1, Saint Saens 3, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev 2 and the Chausson Poeme, mainly accompanied by Mitropoulos and the NYPO. Wonderful- in fact am listening to the Tchaikovsky as I write!
ZF was one of the most lyrical violinists to ever pick up the instrument. His recording of the Beethoven concerto with Walter cannot be surpassed, IMHO.
I still own LPs of ZF and Walter performing Mozart's Violin Concerti 3 and 5 and, with Pierre Fournier, the Brahms Double Concerto.
All of these performances embody a powerful esthetic: to bring pleasure to the listener without imposing the ego of the interpreter. The treatment of dynamics and phrasing and voices has chamber music clarity. Listening to the slow movement of the Beethoven is like eavesdropping on a private conversation.
As we say in the US, "They don't make 'em like that anymore".
And I agree with you about his Sibelius with Bernstein. For me it ranks with Heifetz/Hendl/CSO, Oistrakh/Ormandy/PO and Ferras/Karajan/BPO.
LEPORELLO