For me, this recording comes up against that of Julia Fischer
on the Decca label (see review),
but there are a good few very fine recordings of these works
around. Ilya Kaler on Naxos 8.550717 is pretty fearsome, and
for years Izhak Perlman on EMI was considered unbeatable on
a technical level alone, let alone musically, though even here
there are issues to which one can point these days. My preference
will almost invariably for a recording which makes real music
out of these demanding violin studies, which mean that having
their technical challenges dealt with effectively goes without
saying. On this basis, Julia Fischer remains my favourite.
Alberto Bologni has appeared in recommended releases before
from the Sheva Collection in Schumann
and elsewhere with Haydn,
and is clearly a very fine player. There are also plenty of
good moments in his Paganini Capricci. I’m impressed
by his octave double-stopping in the opening of No.3,
and his musicality with the Maestoso and Lento type
of pieces is fine. Where I can’t follow him is in the lack of
accuracy we hear in so many of the virtuoso runs and figures
which pop up all over the place in these pieces – the kind of
playing which can be summed up as ‘scribbly’. Going back to
the Capriccio No.3, the two outer Sostenuto sections
form the outer layers for an inner Presto filling, which
here commences at 1:18. The notes dart around all over the place,
and we get the last note of most of the phrases, but what is
actually going on in between. There is a good deal of chromaticism
and many close intervals here, but too much vague passagework
to make much sense of them. The Capriccio No.5 is a swift
Agitato, and Bologni does well to start with in what
is by no means his most problematic number, but can you sense
the drift in intonation which pops in from time to time? Double-stopping
is one of Bologni’s fortes, and the Capriccio No.9 and
laughing No.13 are OK. He brings a good sense of drama
and variety to the character of each piece, but for me there
is always that little niggling vagueness at points of maximum
complexity at speed. Comparing that famous theme and variations
of No.24 with Julia Fischer and you hear a far greater
sense of freedom around the notes – not essentially slower with
Fischer, but with just that much more ‘time’. There’s that problematic
accuracy with all those little in-between figures again, and
that feeling that Bologni is surviving or attacking the technical
challenges rather than transforming the notes into really enjoyable
music. It’s not that he’s really bad, but having had
the luxury of better for some time now it’s hard to make this
a recommendation – at least, over Fischer, Kaler or Perlman.
The recorded sound for this release is good enough, with a respectable
perspective between listener and instrument, but with a crisp
balance which may be down to the recording or the player – I
can’t tell which. Alberto Bologni plays a 1734 Santo Serafino
violin, and writes concise and informative booklet notes. This
is an interesting release which certainly puts the current standard
of playing for these pieces into perspective. The conclusion
is, if you can’t nail each and every note, no matter how small
or transitional, you’ll pay dearly when it comes to presenting
your CD recording.
Dominy Clements
Alberto Bologni (violin)
