Paganini Caprices Sweepstakes

[snyprrr]

THE CHOICES ARE:

Perlman
Accardo
Rabin
Kaler
Midori
Mintz
Markov
the new guy
the old guy
anyone else

so far, i really just like Perlman's tone and artistry (and recording) to some of the more scratchy "devilish" ones, even if he may not be "perfect", but i don't care to notice. Markov seems to hit everything, but rock star flash, thin tone and live recording sink it for me. i've heard a little Mintz, hitting the notes, but just shy of perlman in the sweetness.

shouldn't Midori re-record these at some point?

[dirkronk]

Perlman's I had on LP, but not sure if it's still on the shelves--it's been a while. Rabin's Pag caprices I have on both vinyl and CD. And I have an old Remington LP of Ossy Renardy that I dearly love. When I'm in the mood for Pag (and yeah, I have to be in the mood), all hold my attention and my affection.

But not that long ago, I came across a 6-CD set of Accardo doing rather a lot of Paganini. Accardo's not one of my "listen to everything he does" kind of artists, and frankly my response to some of his standard-repertory recordings has been rather tepid. But I'd heard good things about the set, and the price was right, so I got it. Well...the man is definitely in his element in Paganini. Almost everything I've heard so far (listen to all 6 CDs straight through? What? Are you nuts?) is very beautiful indeed. Whether he wins my personal "sweepstakes" has yet to be determined. But so far, I like what I hear from him.

Cheers,

Dirk

[DFO]

Ricci's first (1947)

[Guido]

Are these actually worth getting to know?

[Dr. Dread]

I have Midori. No complaints.

[Josquin des Prez]

I've had Micheal Rabin for years and i've been quite happy with his recording, never felt the need to explore further. Then again, i've never been taken by Paganini. There's something about the falseness of his expression that just rubs me the wrong way.

[violinlands]

Perlman's I had on LP, but not sure if it's still on the shelves--it's been a while. Rabin's Pag caprices I have on both vinyl and CD. And I have an old Remington LP of Ossy Renardy that I dearly love. When I'm in the mood for Pag (and yeah, I have to be in the mood), all hold my attention and my affection.

But not that long ago, I came across a 6-CD set of Accardo doing rather a lot of Paganini. Accardo's not one of my "listen to everything he does" kind of artists, and frankly my response to some of his standard-repertory recordings has been rather tepid. But I'd heard good things about the set, and the price was right, so I got it. Well...the man is definitely in his element in Paganini. Almost everything I've heard so far (listen to all 6 CDs straight through? What? Are you nuts?) is very beautiful indeed. Whether he wins my personal "sweepstakes" has yet to be determined. But so far, I like what I hear from him.

Cheers,

Dirk

Theoretically any one who can play the Paganini Caprices is worth listening to. I am not too keen on Accardo myself.  I am sure that somewhere in this interesting thread someone has or will mention Alexander Markov, now in his case you can watch him play on his magnificent Peresson violin.

[SonicMan46]

Paganini Caprices TTT! - a short-lived thread from 2009 - must be no love for these oft performed works? 

Currently listening to a new acquisition (first pic below) w/ Alina Ibragimova (I seem to be buying a lot of her works lately) - somewhat unusual is she spans two discs w/ 104+ minutes - this was a $9 bargain from BRO, i.e. Hyperion is selling it as a 2 for 1 - I own two other recordings (Bender-Becker & Rabin from the '50s - discarded Accardo after obtaining the latter).

Now there are plenty of other more recent recordings (and older ones brought as up to date offerings) - these are not my favorite solo violin works to spend a lot of time listening but despite its length, I am enjoying Alina - for those who may like to read reviews, see the attachment which convinced me of a purchase (of course at a good deal!  )   Dave

Theoretically any one who can play the Paganini Caprices is worth listening to. I am not too keen on Accardo myself.  I am sure that somewhere in this interesting thread someone has or will mention Alexander Markov, now in his case you can watch him play on his magnificent Peresson violin.

     

[André Le Nôtre]

... And I have an old Remington LP of Ossy Renardy that I dearly love...

Cheers,

Dirk

A true connoisseur. I have Rendardy's Brahms concerto (Charles Munch, London LLP 1!) with sketchy sound quality, but an extremely engaging and warm rendering by Renardy, including a cadenza infused with incomparable humor. His Franck sonata (Eugene List, Remington) is also incredible! I have to track down more of his LPs when I get my TT fixed!

As for Paganini, I've loved the Rabin recordings for many years (mine on LP), and have never bothered to venture much outside of that.