Schumann: Romance in A major, Op. 94 No. 2

The present CD pays homage to the Italian great violinist Renato De Barbieri (Genova, 1920 – Trento, 1991), whose artistic life has regrettably been forgotten in these days. The careful digital remastering from the original LPs reveals the wholeness of his talent as virtuoso and performer. His gift is here enjoyable not only for works as Paganini’s Le Streghe and Ravel’s Tzigane but mainly also for twentieth century’s masterpiece Sonata n.1 per violino e pianoforte of Sergey Prokofiev.

This delightful release brings together many of Fritz Kreisler’s short pieces for violin and piano. The programme is drawn from original compositions, arrangements and stylistic parodies making up a CD of generally lesser known works. As well as enriching the repertoire Kreisler issues a challenge to violinists to play these pieces as effectively and as affectingly as he did.

Fritz Kreisler was born in Vienna in 1875. His father was Jewish and his mother a Roman Catholic. He was the youngest pupil ever to enter the Conservatoire in Vienna, where he was taught by Anton Bruckner. He then went to Paris to continue his studies with, among others, Leo Delibes and Jules Massenet.

He was 13 years old when he made his American début in New York, during his first tour of that country in 1888/1889. His début with the Berlin Philharmonic took place in 1898 and launched his international career. In 1910 he gave the premiére of Elgar's Violin Concerto, a work that was dedicated to him.

After a short period of residence in the US during World War I, he finally settled there at the outbreak of World War II, becoming a US citizen in 1943. In 1941 a traffic accident caused his hearing and eyesight to be somewhat impaired but he continued to perform, giving his final public concert in 1947, although he continued to broadcast for some time after that. He died in New York City in 1962.

Aside from being one of the great violin soloists of his time Kreisler was also a composer of some note, ascribing some of his own pastiche compositions to composers of an earlier time. When, in 1935, he revealed that these works were not written by the likes of Pugnani, Vivaldi and Tartini but were, in fact his own, he came in for a degree of critical opprobrium.

Whatever the critics might have said it cannot be denied that many of Kreisler's shorter works, some of which are included in this set of 10 CDs, are among the most popular in the classical genre. Here is an opportunity for the collector to become familiar with these works played by the master himself.