Dynamic are making a habit – a good one in my book – of repackaging
material into big nine or ten CD boxes and releasing them at
favourable prices. A 10 CD Viotti Violin Concerto box, for example,
is ‘as for three’. The box set under discussion here is devoted
to violist and violinist Luigi Alberto Bianchi who was born
in 1945, a man pursued by misfortune when it comes to his instruments.
First his viola was stolen, then his violin. The first was a
famous 1595 Amati, the second the Colossus Strad and to date
only the Amati has been recovered.
The soloist and chamber player has made numerous recordings
and this cross section, whilst steering clear of the central
repertoire, such as his Mozart Sinfonia Concertante with Yehudi
Menuhin (for obvious contractual reasons) nevertheless shows
us his many strengths. Disc 1 is devoted to a recital of Bazzini.
I’ve reviewed
this separately so will direct you there, and will only add
that I enjoyed his subtlety, charm and intelligence greatly.
The next two discs are devoted to the Lucca Sonatas
of Paganini in which he is accompanied by guitarist Maurizio
Preda. Bianchi plays three famous Strads during the course of
these two discs, if that should be of interest. These are gracious,
often enchanting and technically undemanding works, but they
do need a player versed in legato. Note how well Bianchi catches
the bashful stuttering of the fourth sonata of Op.4 and his
rather startling (not always effective) finger position changes.
Still, he knows better than to inflate these charmers and plays
with simplicity and warmth. The easy-on-the-ear music is graced
by mock portentous heroics in No.4 from Op.1 and by Bianchi’s
sheer elegance in the variations in No.1 from the Op.2 set.
For disc 4 he switches to his Amati viola. He plays Paganini’s
Sonata per la Gran Viola with the RIAS Orchestra under
Jacques Delacôte in a textually pure reading shorn of any emendations.
The recital is primarily of Paganini and Sarasate, in which
he showcases his evocative narrative and colouristic skills.
He’s also adept at Kreisler, though perhaps missing intensity
in his viola version of Bloch’s Nigun. The fifth disc
brings the three Reger Viola Suites, an important undertaking
that reveals a strong affinity with, and mastery of, Reger’s
syntax. These are amongst the most important things in this
set. He also plays the A minor Violin Sonata, though less well
than he plays the Viola Suites.
Alessandro Rolla’s Duets for violin and viola see Bianchi teamed
with his compatriot, Salvatore Accardo, who also has a boxed
set dedicated to him on this label, and quite right too. These
are lithe and lissom pieces, hardly earth-shattering in their
import but genial and warm. The violin bears most of the expressive
burden but where there are entwined dialogues they are charming.
These are the earliest recordings dating from 1972. Bianchi
plays a modern viola here – a 1965 model by Capicchioni. Disc
seven is slightly odd inasmuch as there is a performance of
Kodály’s great Sonata for solo cello. Even Bianchi, with all
his dexterity, can’t play the cello, or if he can he can’t play
Kodály’s sonata – very few cellists can really get around its
manifold thickets. The cellist who tries hard is Franco Maggio
Ormezowski. Bianchi then joins him for a decent Kodály Duo and
Ravel’s Sonata for violin and cello.
Disc 8 is devoted to Kreisler pieces or ‘encores’ as Dynamic
has it. Some favourites are here but in the main the selection
is catholic. Bianchi plays them on the violin and his accompanist
is Piernarciso Masi. I rather prefer his viola versions of Liebesleid
and Liebesfreud and like almost all younger players
– younger than Kreisler and his generation, that is – he takes
the Londonderry Air at a very slow tempo. Disc 9 is
all-Lalo, on the violin. The Fantasie Originale is
an exotic and spicy work for an Op.1. Bianchi plays the D major
Sonata with a good sense of direction but has some technical
problems. Finally there is an all-Weber disc dominated by the
violin sonatas. These are played with a mixture of gentility
and drama, though in all fairness Bianchi is not as incisive,
dramatic or communicative a player as Ruggiero Ricci in this
repertoire. Few, indeed, are.
If you are a Bianchi admirer I’m sure there are things here,
recorded over the space of three decades, that will be new to
you.
Jonathan Woolf
Full contents list
CD 1 [65:56]
Antonio BAZZINI (1818-1897)
3 Morceaux en forme de Sonata op.44 [19:42]
3 Morceaux caracteristiques op.45 [16:16]
3 Morceaux lyriques op.41 [15:44]
Menus propos! Causieres musicales. Premiere suite op.47 [10:54]
Reverie op.posth [3:14]
CD 2 [51:38]
Nicolň PAGANINI (1782-1840)
Sonata for Violin and Guitar op.1 MS9 [17:03]
Sonata for Violin and Guitar op.2 MS10 [21:32]
Sonata for Violin and Guitar op.4 MS1 [13:03]
CD 3 [52:24]
Nicolň PAGANINI (1782-1840)
Sonata for Violin and Guitar op.4 MS11 [12:11]
Sonata for Violin and Guitar op.5 MS12 [19:26]
Sonata for Violin and Guitar op.6 MS13 [21;15]
CD 4 [58:26]
Nicolň PAGANINI (1782-1840)
Sonata per la Gran Viola MS70 [13:11]
La Campanella [5:27]
Fritz KREISLER (1875-1962)
Liebeslied [3:27]
Liebesfreud [3:45]
Pablo de SARASATE
Playera [4:50]
Malaguena [5:16]
Romanza Andalusa [5:09]
Zapateado [3:43]
Ernst BLOCH
Nigun [7:51]
Claude DEBUSSY (1862-1918)
La fille a cheveux de lin [2:50]
Maurice RAVEL (1875-1937)
Habanera [2:52]
CD 5 [56:02]
Max REGER (1873-1916)
Violin Sonata No.7 in A minor [22:57]
Viola Suite No.1 in G minor [12:.27]
Viola Suite No.2 in D major [10:31]
Viola Suite No.3 in E minor [10:01]
CD 6 [58:14]
Alesandro ROLLA (1757-1841)
Three Duets for Violin and Viola op.15
Duet No.1 in E flat major [21:30]
Duet No.2 in A flat major [18:26]
Duet No.3 in C major [18:07]
CD 7 [78:16]
Zoltán KODÁLY (1882-1967)
Sonata for Cello solo op.8 [30:59]
Duo op.7 for Violin and Cello [26:48]
Maurice RAVEL (1875-1937)
Sonata for Violin and Cello [20:17]
CD 8 [65:26]
Fritz KREISLER (1875-1962)
Tambourin Chinois op.3 [3:58]
Schön Rosmarin [2:08]
Liebesleid [3:38]
Liebesfreud [3:47]
Caprice Viennoise op.2 [4:39]
Gypsy Caprice [5:36]
La Gitana [3:28]
Syncopation [1:59]
Londonderry Air [4:30]
Dancing Doll [2:36]
Polichinelle Serenade [2:22]
Rondino [2:41]
Toy Soldiers March [2:09]
The Old Refrain [4:13]
Marche Miniature Viennoise [3:26]
Viennese Rapsodic Fantasietta [9:28]
Recitativo und Scherzo - Caprice op.6 [4:41]
CD 9 [75:36]
Edouard LALO (1823-1892)
Fantaisie Originale op.1 [9:58]
Allegro Maestoso Op.2 in C minor [11:30]
Two Impromptus op.4 [8:01]
Pastorale op.8 in G Major [3;37]
Scherzo alla Pulcinella in E flat Major [5:09]
Sonata op.12 in D Major [20:13]
Soirees Parisiennes. Trois morceaux caracteristiques par Ch
Wehle et Ed Lalo op.18 [9:27]. Arlecchino - Morceau caracteristique
in G Major [3:50]
Guitare op.28 in B minor [3:44]
CD 10 [67:37]
Carl Maria von WEBER (1786-1826)
Variations on a Norvegian Aria [15:25]
Sonata op.10 No.1 [9:07]
Sonata op.10 No.2 [9:43]
Sonata op.10 No.3 [4:47]
Sonata op.10 No.4 [6:06]
Sonata op.10 No.5 [11:06]
Sonata op.10 No.6 [10:30]
Luigi Alberto Bianchi (violin and viola)