Word: paganinis
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...also knows why he gets so few chances to prove it to the public. "Concert managers tell you the cello is a little-liked instrument," he says. Then he explains: "The cello is about a century behind the violin. Paganini [1782-1840] was the turning point in the violin, 100 years before Pablo Casals [born 1876] who was the turning point in the cello." Those 100 years. Starker points out, enclose most of the great composers. Since they wrote relatively little music for the cello virtuoso, he reasons, the cello is an unfamiliar solo instrument to the public...
Blacher: Orchestral Variations on a Theme of Paganini (RIAS Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ferenc Fricsay; Decca). The same theme (for solo violin) used by Brahms for his famed Variations gets some plain and fancy going-over by one of Germany's most successful living composers. Boris Blacher uses a big orchestra in opulent style, with emphasis on suave clarinet murmurings, massed brasses in swing-band style and ingratiating melodies. The disk is Vol. I of Decca's New Directions in Music and Sound. Debussy: Pelleas and Mélisande (Janine Micheau, Camille Maurane; chorus and Lamoureux Orchestra conducted...
...Quartet in G Minor, Op. 10 shows Debussy of 1893 still with frank ties to late Romanticism, and not yet obsessed by the mannerisms associated with that cliche, "impressionist." Sunday's performance epitomized the standards of the Paganini musicians. Besides their interest in absolute accuracy of rhythm and intonation, the players aimed principally for lush sound. The intensely sweet tone softened the second movement into a romantic evocation of Spain, and in the Andantino it suspended time with a wholly sensuous magic...
...other works the kind of performance that made Debussy unforgettable was more controversial. It became apparent in Mozart's Dissonant Quartet that the Paganini members have attained refinement at the price of their own individuality. Their overwhelming sense of ensemble--with its attendant precision--robbed the music of linear independence. This produced a curious lack of internal rhythmic drive, although actual tempos never lagged, as the Mozart took on too much polish it became increasingly dull...
Beethoven's Quartet in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 131 received similar treatment. Particularly for this piece, comparison with the Budapest group became unavoidable. Many people insist that Beethoven's chamber music be performed with the masculine vigor of the Budapest, for all its lack of suavity. The Paganini, on the other hand, emphasized grace and subtlety. But from a critical standpoint, the integrity of either approach is unquestionable. The greatness of the Paganini Quartet lies in the perfection of its own musical objectives...