Kreisler: Violin Music
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FRITZ KREISLER
Kreisler: Violin Music
Jack Liebeck (violin) & Katya Apekisheva (piano)
[ Hyperion / CD ]
Release Date: Monday 31 March 2014
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Hyperion is delighted to welcome award-winning violinist Jack Liebeck to the label, together with his frequent collaborator, Katya Apekisheva.
Liebeck presents a selection of music by 'revolutionary player and the epitome of the Viennese violinist', Fritz Kreisler. Some of Kreisler's works have a dubious genesis. He programmed his own pieces in recitals; but in about 1905 he started passing some off as works by composers of the past, even writing a 'Vivaldi' concerto. He continued this practice. In 1934 he instructed his American publisher, Carl Fischer, to list his so-called 'Classical Manuscripts' as his own compositions in the 1935 catalogue; but this change was pre-empted when the New York Times critic, Olin Downes, was asked to give a lecture-recital with Yehudi Menuhin and started investigating the origins of the Praeludium and Allegro. Kreisler admitted it was his own work and his deception made front-page news worldwide. The Praeludium and Allegro (Classical Manuscript No 5, attributed to Gaetano Pugnani) is Kreisler's finest achievement. When playing it at the Paris Opéra in 1923, Kreisler saw Vincent d'Indy wag a finger at him from the front row and thought he had been found out. Afterwards d'Indy told him: 'Pugnani would not have played the Allegro in that tempo.'
This selection includes Kreisler's absurdly virtuosic arrangement of 'The Devil's Trill' by Tartini: Kreisler's edition, incorporating a realization of the figured bass as well as fingerings and phrasings, provides a fearsome cadenza involving triple- and quadruple-stopping as well as two- and three-note trills.
'Jack Liebeck is a fine player-no doubt about that-with a firm tone and rock-solid technique. The 1785 'Ex-Wilhelmj' Guadagnini he plays fills St George's, Bristol, with commanding ease … he is best in Kreisler's transcriptions (a touching Gluck Mélodie, thrilling bravura in Falla's Danse espagnole and a forthright, confident account of the 'Devil's Trill' Sonata, which ends the disc in style' (Gramophone)
'This cracking box of Fritz Kreisler fireworks marks the beginning of young violinist Jack Liebeck's partnership with Hyperion … these are so refreshingly bright and zestful they feel like new pieces. The instantly familiar Praeludium and Allegro, for example, is dismissed with exhilarating haste, as is Kreisler's immensely demanding transcription of Dvořák's E minor Slavonic Dance. But perhaps the most impressive performance in the entire collection is the conquering of Kreisler's adaptation of Tartini's 'Devil's Trill' sonata, which surrenders completely to Liebeck and Katya Apekisheva's formidable technique' (The Observer)
'This estimable Kreisler compilation from the young British violinist Jack Liebeck heralds his new alliance with Hyperion, and one could hardly imagine a more propitious start to their relationship … these disarmingly affectionate and often brilliant accounts of these Kreisler favourites prove unusually satisfying … particularly superb are the transcriptions of Dvořák's E minor Slavonic Dance, Op 72 No 2 and the 'Danse espagnole' from Falla's La vida breve, both of which are hugely demanding for the violinist and played with élan and bravura here by Liebeck … this is unquestionably a Kreisler disc to which I'll be returning often and always with pleasure, for these spirited and discerning readings have so much to commend them as to make even minor qualms seem churlish. Liebeck and Apekisheva are heard at their brilliant best in Kreisler's own formidably taxing reworking of the G minor 'Devil's Trill' Sonata by Tartini. There is indeed something of the Mephistophelean about this astounding account and Liebeck sounds stunning in Kreisler's intimidating cadenza' (International Record Review)
'Quite superb accounts of the Recitative and Scherzo, and Kreisler's arrangement of Tartini's 'Devil's Trill' Sonata … the engineers provide an ideal balance and pleasing sound to complete an outstanding release' (The Strad)
Tracks:
Kreisler:
Praeludium and Allegro (in the style of Pugnani)
Syncopation
Schön Rosmarin
Liebesfreud
Liebesleid
Polichinelle, serenade
Tambourin Chinois, Op. 3
Melodie (after Gluck)
Toy Soldiers' March
La Chasse (The Hunt) in the style of Jean-Baptiste Cartier
Caprice Viennois, Op. 2
Allegretto (in the style of Boccherini)
Danse Espagnole (after Falla)
Mazurka in E minor (after Dvorak)
Miniature violin march
Recitative & Scherzo Caprice, Op. 6
Tartini:
Violin Sonata in G minor 'Devil's Trill'
arr. Kreisler
