Shortly after Dynamic released a big box devoted to the artistry
of violinist and violist Luigi Alberto Bianchi there comes a
9 CD box devoted to his colleague and erstwhile recording partner,
Salvatore Accardo. Indeed one disc - that of the Rolla duets
- is common to both sets.
The box is a tribute to Accardo on his 70th birthday,
but it can’t be considered a retrospective, more of a
snapshot of certain, mainly festival, performances that have
been rather heterogeneously yoked together. Fortunately we can
hear his long-time collaborator, Bruno Canino, and also double
bassist Franco Petracchi. There is also the pleasure of encountering
two Paganini pieces extracted from the first LP Accardo made,
back in 1959.
The Paganinis come on the first disc and they’re
the Sonata a preghiera and I Palpiti, both despatched
with finesse and control. We also hear the world première
recording (back in 1960) of the fiendish Variations on the
Barucabà Theme which was also recorded when the violinist
was still in his late teens. Though the notes don’t mention
it, the bulk of the chamber performances included in the set
derive from Accardo’s spring festival held in Naples.
It seems to have been something of a mini-Marlboro, and the
string quartet around which the performances satellite consists
of Accardo, Margaret Batjer (violin), Toby Hoffman (viola),
and Peter Wiley (cello). Batjer is a concertmaster and Marlboro
returnee, Hoffman is a veteran of the Seattle, Aspen and Marlboro
festivals, and Wiley is famed for his association with the Beaux
Arts Trio and Guarneri Quartet. The quartet Accardo organised
thus has the firmest of foundations and considerable experience.
Chausson’s Concerto for violin, piano and string
quartet means that the four are joined by violinist Ida Levin
and Bruno Canino. This is a notably sonorous and well integrated
ensemble with some emotive ‘soloing’ and a determined
tempo for the finale. It’s coupled with Saint-Saëns’
First Violin Sonata. The ethos is not particularly Gallic but
Accardo and Canino ensure that the music’s contrasts are
adhered to and projected. They are excellent in the finale,
a movement where I have seen two well-known fiddlers drop their
bows! Dvo řák’s Quintet Op.77
sees Franco Petracchi add his bass weight. The results are very
persuasive, well accented and creditable; a warm reading, affectionate
and enjoyable. The Terzetto in C major (two violins and
viola only) invariably brings out the best in performers. The
highlight movement of the four in this performance is undoubtedly
the Larghetto.
For Dvořák’s Op.81 Piano Quintet they
were joined, inevitably, by Canino once more. Here one feels
a slight want of rhythmic discipline from time to time, and
there are occasional exaggerations phrasally which sap the direction
of the music-making. Coming to it fresh, you would enjoy the
textured playing and the quartet’s sonority, but closer
listening might suggest an unsettled response from the group.
Accardo plays the Romantic Pieces with too artful a pose.
He’s also far too slow, most especially in the Allegro
moderato; just listen to Josef Suk to hear how it should
be done.
The festival quartet essay Verdi’s Quartet. This
is a work that always surprises people when they hear it. They’re
surprised because it’s so enjoyable and so competently
written. There’s real grace in this performance of the
Andantino in particular but it’s a fine performance
all-round. It’s coupled with Borodin’s Second,
intelligently contoured but by no means offering the last word
in collective tonal warmth.
The only chance we have to hear Accardo the concerto soloist
comes in disc six, in which he performs Ginastera’s
weird Concerto, accompanied by the Hopkins Centre Orchestra,
Congregation of the Arts, Dartmouth conducted by Mario Di Bonaventura.
This is the concerto that opens with a four and a half minute
solo cadenza and takes one on a violinistic exegesis via studies
in chords, thirds, arpeggios and harmonics and the like. The
bit I always like is the spooky quarter-tone slow section but
I admire the resolution that the orchestra brings to the longest
movement, the Adagio for 22 soloists. It’s a live recording.
The other item is Bartók’s Op. posthumous
Sonata, a deliciously warm and ultra-romantic affair, far removed
from the norm.
A recital occupies disc seven. Accardo brandishes his 1743 Guarneri
to run through, with Laura Manzini this time, some of what Louis
Armstrong used to call ‘good old good ones’. His
elegant slides grace Suk’s Píseň
lásky and there’s a dashing take on Milstein’s
Paganiniana. It’s Zino Francescatti’s
Variations on a theme of Corelli we hear, not the more
familiar Kreisler. Don’t overlook his astute Elgar
La Capricieuse where proportions are perfectly judged;
he was an outstanding interpreter of the Concerto. People don’t
seem to play Hubay’s pieces in recital these days.
I wonder why not? Accardo plays Zephyr gorgeously. There
is also the chance to hear Szymanowski’s take on
three Paganini Caprices; these are, at least, played a bit but
seldom as well as by Accardo.
Paganini’s duets for violin and bassoon are great
fun. It helps that the violinist is joined by Claudio Gonella
whose burbling contributions are delightful. Despite the seeming
incongruity of pitting fiddle and bassoon, the three duets work
very well in a Laurel and Hardy sort of a way. If you remain
unconvinced try the operatic-dramatic overture and aria-cum-duet
approach enshrined in the first movement of the Second Duet,
or the healthily rich Larghetto of the Third. Rolla’s
Duets are comparably attractive works in which he and Bianchi
make a richly communicative duo. As earlier noted if you’ve
invested in the Bianchi box, which I’ve already reviewed,
you’ll find the Rolla pieces duplicated here.
This box is an attractive, wholly merited salute to Accardo.
It comes with a small biographical booklet. Ideally a retrospective
would bring together the violinist’s concerto and sonata
recordings, the better to suggest just what an admirable musician
he is, and how enriched the discography has been by him these
many years.
Jonathan Woolf
Track-details
CD 1 [58:02]
Nicolò PAGANINI (1782-1840)
1-3 60 Variations on the Barucabà Theme (First World
Recording) M.S. 71 [31:38]
4 God Save the King M.S. 56 [7:24]
5 Sonata a preghiera M.S. 23 [7:43]
6 I Palpiti M.S. 77 [11:13]
Salvatore Accardo (violin); Antonio Beltrami (piano), recorded
1959/60
CD 2 [64:44]
Ernest CHAUSSON (1855 1899)
1-4 Concert Op. 21 for violin, piano, and string quartet
[41:45]
Camille SAINT-SAËNS (1835-1921)
5-6 Sonata No. 1 for piano and violin op. 75 [22:59]
Salvatore Accardo (violin); Ida Levin and Margaret Batjer (violins);
Toby Hoffman (viola); Peter Wiley (cello); Bruno Canino (piano)
CD 3 [56:48]
Antonín DVO Ř ÁK (1841-1904)
1-4 Quintet in G minor for two violins, viola, cello and
double-bass Op. 77 [35:51]
5-8 Terzetto in C minor for two violins and viola Op. 74 [20:57]
Salvatore Accardo (violin); Margaret Batjer (violin); Toby Hoffman
(viola); Peter Wiley (cello); Franco Petracchi (double bass)
CD 4 [58:03]
Antonín DVO Ř ÁK (1841-1904)
1-4 Piano Quintet in A major Op. 81 [41:39]
5-8 Romantic Pieces Op. 75 for violin & piano [16:24]
Salvatore Accardo (violin); Margaret Batjer (violin); Toby Hoffman
(viola); Peter Wiley (cello); Bruno Canino (piano)
CD 5 [50:50]
Giuseppe VERDI (1813-1901)
1-4 String quartet in E minor [23:02]
Alexander BORODIN (1833-1887)
5-8 String quartet no. 2 in D major [27:48]
Salvatore Accardo (violin); Margaret Batjer (violin); Toby Hoffman
(viola); Peter Wiley (cello)
CD 6 [53:56]
Alberto GINASTERA (1916-1983)
1-11 Violin concerto [26:37]
Béla BARTÓK (1881-1945)
12-14 Sonata for violin and piano [27:09]
Salvatore Accardo (violin)/Hopkins Centre Orchestra, Congregation
of the Arts, Dartmouth/Mario Di Bonaventura
Salvatore Accardo (violin); Noel Lee (piano)
CD 7 [74:26]
Salvatore Accardo plays Paganini’s Guarneri del
Gesù 1743
Tartini-Francescatti
1 Variations on a theme by Corelli 03:08
Nathan Milstein
2 Paganiniana for solo violin 07:41
Josef Suk
3 Love Song Op. 7 No. 1 06:26
Pablo de Sarasate
4 Introduction and Tarantella 04:53
Chopin-Sarasate
5 Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2 05:02
Johannes Brahms - Joachim
Hungarian dance No. 7 02:09
Edward Elgar
7 La Capricieuse 04:11
Moszkowski-Sarasate
8 Guitarre Op. 45 No. 2 03:27
De Falla-Kochanski
9 Pantomime (from El Amor Brujo) 03:19
William Kroll
10 Banjo and Fiddle 02:46
Shostakovich
11wo Preludes (Op. 34 Nos. 10 and 15) 03:07
Maurice Ravel
12 Piece en forme de Habanera 02:49
Arthur Benjamin
13 Jamaican Rumba 01:43
Jeno Hubay
14 Zefir (Op. 30 No. 5) 03:30
Claude Debussy
15 Clair de Lune 04:43
Karol Szymanowski
16 Paganini’s Caprice Op. 40 No. 20 03:10
17 Paganini’s Caprice Op. 40 No. 21 02:41
18 Paganini’s Caprice Op. 40 No. 24 07:55
CD 8 [63:26]
Nicolò PAGANINI (1782-1840)
Three duets for violin and bassoon m.s. 130
1-2 Duet no. 1 [16:58]
3-4 Duet no. 2 [16:53]
5-7 Duet no. 3 [16:21]
Giacchino ROSSINI- Nicolò PAGANINI
8 Un mot a Paganini elegia for violin and piano in D major
[8:10]
Nicolò PAGANINI (1782-1840)
9 Cantabile in D major M.S. 109 [4:25]
Salvatore Accardo (violin); Claudio Gonella (bassoon); Bruno
Canino (piano) tr.8 and 9
CD 9 [58:14]
Alessandro ROLLA (1758-1841)
Three Duets for Violin and Viola Op. 15
1-4 Duet No. 1 in E flat major [21:30]
5-7 Duet No. 2 in A flat major [18:26]
8-11 Duet No. 3 in C major [18:07]
Salvatore Accardo (violin); Luigi Alberto Bianchi (viola)
DYNAMIC CDS 715/1-9 [9 CDs: 538:29]