Thursday, December 20, 2012

Zino Francescatti, Mitropoulos, Ormandy
"Mendelssohn, Bruch: Violin Concertos" (CD)

Zino Francescatti, often overlooked amidst the litany of Russian and Jewish violinists that became household names in America during the 20th century, was an instructor at Indiana University and actually taught one of my personal musical heroes, William Preucil.

Performing on this disc what some today would call "student" concertos, this is one of many examples of what a work like Mendelssohn can become in the hands of a masterful player.
His playing is a bit more forward and agressive than audiences are accustomed to today, but the performance sparkles and his Stradivarius violin pokes through 70 years of recording technology to demonstrate why these instruments are so prized.

This 2-disc set is actually really fun in preserving original artwork and liner notes from the original LP recordings that accompanied the original release.

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