This entertaining violin compendium is the
latest addition to Canadian-violinist James Ehnes’ recording
odyssey for Onyx. It focuses on the evolution of the violin
and viola from an educational and artistic perspective.
Homage is a CD+DVD set comprising nearly
three hours of recorded material. It has a single mission:
to highlight, up-close and intimate, the brilliance in craftsmanship
and acoustic beauty of a dozen vintage violins and violas.
To this day, violin-making remains part of
a proud four-hundred year long tradition that originated in
the Northern regions of Italy. Ehnes takes us on a journey
from the viola of Gasparo Bertolotti
dating back as early as the 1560s to the beautifully crafted
violins of Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri from the
early decades of 1700. They come from a priceless collection
belonging to American philanthropist David Fulton and his
wife Ann Fulton.
When a string instrument is claimed to be ‘original’
- in all its parts - it refers to the instrument’s top, its
back, its side, as well as its scroll. To be able to experience any of these fine instruments today
is the dream of any violin/viola aficionado. To be able to
hear all twelve is an exceptional privilege.
Currently nominated for the 2009 Juno Award, Homage
is a treasure trove of beautiful music written by skilled
composers and violinists from the past century. It is a rare
collection commendable not only from the viewpoint of these
vintage instruments, but also offering music performed compellingly
by James Ehnes, one of Canada’s most formidable violin talents
- a young musician with an old soul.
A question that continues to stimulate the
curiosity of many great minds is: “Why did the art of making
string instruments reach its peak during this particular period
in history, spanning the decades between the late 17th
to 18th centuries and just as the Renaissance was
stirring?” Ehnes proposes a compelling hypothesis in the liner
notes, suggesting that “… making string instruments is not
just a craft, but also an art-form, where it inspired … [the
creation of] … works of unequalled greatness.” Just as music
has continued to develop throughout the ages, so have the
instruments by which is it is expressed. Today’s flutes, for
instance, bear little familiarity to the flutes played by
the Greeks of ancient times. Baroque Masters like Bach, Handel
and Scarlatti would have been overwhelmed by the expressive
and mechanical capacity of today’s concert pianos. Of all
the musical instrument families, the string instruments remain
exceptional. The most celebrated violins, violas and cellos
are those that were made hundreds of years ago. As Ehnes says,
“There is simply no other profession where the best tool for
the job is hundreds of years old.”
The disc opens with a dazzling eighteen tracks spotlighting each
of the violins in the Fulton Collection. Firstly we have a
performance of Bazzini’s La Ronde des Lutins performed
on Ehnes’ very own ‘Marsick’ Stradivarius from 1715. This
he holds under extended loan from the Fultons. It then continues
with a scintillating trip through six movements from de Falla’s
Suite populaire espagnole, arranged by Polish
violin virtuoso Paul Kochanski. These are played using six
unique Guarneri and Stradivari violins. In each of these Spanish
songs one readily appreciates the vintage qualities that define
each instrument: a rare combination of rich tonal beauty,
vivid colour range and clarity of sound. Ehnes chooses a different
bow for each Fulton instrument. As Ehnes has explained in
interview: “it is not uncommon to find an instrument with
one or even two of these traits [mentioned above] in abundance,
but to find all these elements in the same instrument
is rare.” Interspersed one finds Ehnes revelling in Elgar’s
La Capricieuse and Salut d’amour, Ravel’s Pièce
en forme de Habañera, Sibelius’s Mazurka, and Tchaikovsky’s
inevitable Melody - some very sensitive playing here
using the Guarneri ‘del Gesù,’ 1752 ‘Lord Wilton’.
Perhaps the most interesting of this group are those violin
transcriptions that bring each of the instruments to their
limits, as heard in Scott-Kreisler’s Lotus Land, Dinicu-Heifetz’s
Hora Staccato, Wieniawski-Kreisler’s Étude-Caprice,
Moszowski-Sarasate’s Guitarre, and de-Falla-Kreisler’s
Danse Espagnole. There is also Kreisler’s Chansons
Louis XIII and Pavane, which helps to impart a nice sense
of balance.
We also hear the Fulton’s violas, one from
each of Gasparo da Salò, Andrea Guarneri and Giuseppe Guadagnini.
These span three succeeding centuries: Vaughan Williams’ Greensleeves,
Benjamin-Primrose’s Jamaican Rumba and David-Vieuxtemps’
La Nuit. These are played with panache by Ehnes, ably
accompanied by pianist Eduard Laurel. The best is saved for
last. A fun but challenging exercise for those with trained
ears is to compare tracks from Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy
and Berlioz’s Harold in Italy. Ehnes takes each
of the individual violins and violas and using the same excerpt
independently brings out tonal character, acoustic range and
clarity in projection. Each instruments brings its own charm
and luxurious character to the excerpt. They also make for
a rousing close to the recital. The engineering gives the
players some welcome breathing room, permitting Ehnes' lithe
tone, with its seductive, fast vibrato, to emerge vividly
while observing a good balance with the piano.
A DVD with over 2 hours “behind the scene”
and interview material accompanies this fine compendium. Ehnes
describes one of his missions as an artist is to “make fabulous
music … the ‘set-up’ of a violin is everything. Any violin
is capable of sounding really, really bad, so you spend your
whole performing life trying to make a violin sound great
or beautiful. And when you’ve got it right, the instrument
speaks in a certain way. It is a magical thing … a thunderclap.” Homage is a prize-winning document that is indispensable
for any serious collector interested in one of humankind’s
most intimate instruments.
Patrick P.L. Lam
Track detail
*Violin:
Antonio BAZZINI (1818-1897)
La Ronde des Lutins (Antonio Stradivari, 1715 ‘Marsick’) [4:54]
Manuel de FALLA (1876-1946)/
Paul KOCHANSKI (1887-1934)
Suite populaire espagnole
I.
El paño moruno (Giuseppe Guarneri ‘del Gesù,’
1737 ‘King Joseph’) [2:14]
II.
Nana (Antonio Stradivari, 1733 ‘Sassoon’) [2:18]
III.
Canción (Antonio Stradivari, 1719 ‘Duke of Alba’)
[1:26]
IV.
Polo (Giuseppe Guarneri ‘del Gesù,’ 1742
‘Lord Wilton’) [1:20]
V.
Asturiana (Antonio Stradivari, 1709 ‘La Pucelle’)
[2:00]
VI.
Jota (Antonio Stradivari, 1715 ‘Baron Knoop’)
[3:01]
Edward ELGAR (1857-1934)
La Capricieuse (
Pietro Guarneri (Peter of Mantua), 1698 ‘Shapiro’)
[4:13]
Cyril SCOTT (1879-1970)/Fritz KREISLER (1875-1962)
Lotus Land
(
Giuseppe Guarneri ‘del Gesù,’ 1737 ‘King
Joseph’) [5:03]
Grigoraş DINICU
(1889-1949)/Jascha HEIFETZ (1901-1987)
Hora staccato (
Antonio Stradivari, 1713 ‘Baron d’Assignies’)
[1:59]
Maurice RAVEL (1875-1937)
Pièce en forme de Habanera (
Antonio Stradivari,
1715
‘Marsick’) [3:08]
Henryk WIENIAWSKI (1835-1880)/Fritz
KREISLER (1875-1962)
Étude-Caprice Op.18 No.4 (
Pietro Guarneri (Peter of Mantua),
1698 ‘Shapiro’) [1:32]
Jean SIBELIUS (1865-1957)
Mazurka Op.81 No.1 (
Antonio Stradivari, 1719 ‘Duke of Alba’)
[2:36]
Jean SIBELIUS (1854-1925)/Pablo de SARASATE (1844-1908)
Guitarre (
Antonio Stradivari, 1713 ‘Baron d’Assignies’)
[3:23]
Edward ELGAR (1857-1934)
Salut d’amour (
Antonio Stradivari, 1709 ‘La Pucelle’)
[3:00]
Fritz KREISLER (1875-1962)
Chansons Louis XIII and Pavane (
Antonio Stradivari, 1733
‘Sassoon’) [4:38]
Pyotr Illyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
Melody Op.42 No.3 (
Giuseppe Guarneri ‘del Gesù,’ 1752 ‘Lord
Wilton’) [3:37]
Manuel de FALLA (1876-1946)/Fritz KREISLER (1875-1962)
Danse espagnole (
Antonio Stradivari, 1715 ‘Baron Knoop’)
[3:34]
*Violas:
Ralph VAUGHAN-WILLIAMS (1872-1958)
Fantasia on ‘Greensleeves’ (
Gasparo Bertolotti (Gasparo da
Salò),
ca.1560) [4:36]
Arthur BENJAMIN (1893-1960)/William PRIMROSE (1904-1982)
Jamaican Rumba (
Giuseppe Guadagnini, 1793 ‘Rolla’) [1:48]
Félicien-César DAVID (1810-1876)/Henri VIEUXTEMPS (1820-1881)
La Nuit (
Andrea Guarneri, 1676 ‘Count Vitale, ex Landau’)
[4:32]
*Comparison Tracks:
Violin
Max BRUCH (1838-1920)
Scottish
Fantasy - excerpts
Pietro Guarneri (Peter of Mantua)
1698 'Shapiro' [01:01]
Antonio Stradivari 1709 'La Pucelle'
[00:58]
Antonio Stradivari 1713 'Baron d'Assignies'
[01:00]
Antonio Stradivari 1715 'Marsick'
[01:00]
Antonio Stradivari 1715 'Baron Knoop'
[01:01]
Antonio Stradivari 1719 'Duke of Alba'
[0:059]
Antonio Stradivari 1733 'Sassoon'
[01:01]
Giuseppe Guarneri 'del Gesu' 1737
'King Joseph' [01:01]
Giuseppe Guarneri 'del Gesu' 1742
'Lord Wilton' [01:02]
Viola
Hector BERLIOZ (1803-1869)
Harold in Italy - excerpts
Gasparo Bertolotti ca. 1560 [01:36]
Andrea Guarneri 1676 'Count Vitale
ex Landau' [01:23]
Giuseppe Guadagnini 1793 'Rolla' [01:30]
*All instruments courtesy of the Fulton Collection
James Ehnes (violin,
viola) 
ONYX
CLASSICS 4038 [CD: 78:31 + DVD: 100:00 + 30:00] 
