Paganini: Caprices for solo violin, Op. 1 Nos. 1-24

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If anyone is ever likely to convince you that there is more to Paganini's music than Rossini-in-technical overdrive melodramatics, it is Tanja Becker-Bender. …Becker-Bender gives the Italian's... — BBC Music Magazine, November 2009, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 2nd Mar 2009
Catalogue No: CDA67763
Label: Hyperion
Length: 79 minutes

Gramophone Magazine

May 2009

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Paganini: Caprices for solo violin, Op. 1 Nos. 1-24

Work length1:19:44

$24.50

$30.60

Tanja Becker-Bender (violin)

No 01 in E major. Andante 'L'arpeggio'

Track length2:04

$1.00

$1.25

No 02 in B minor. Moderato

Track length3:08

$1.00

$1.25

No 03 in E minor. Sostenuto – Presto

Track length3:31

$1.00

$1.25

No 04 in C minor. Maestoso

Track length7:10

$1.50

$1.85

No 05 in A minor. Agitato

Track length3:02

$1.00

$1.25

No 06 in G minor. [Adagio]

Track length4:41

$1.00

$1.25

No 07 in A minor. Posato

Track length3:54

$1.00

$1.25

No 08 in E flat major. Maestoso

Track length3:28

$1.00

$1.25

No 09 in E major. Allegretto 'La chasse'

Track length3:03

$1.00

$1.25

No 10 in G minor. Vivace

Track length2:15

$1.00

$1.25

No 11 in C major. Andante – Presto

Track length3:44

$1.00

$1.25

No 12 in A flat major. Allegro

Track length2:26

$1.00

$1.25

No 13 in B flat major. Allegro 'The Devil's Laughter'

Track length2:37

$1.00

$1.25

No 14 in E flat major. Moderato

Track length1:58

$1.00

$1.25

No 15 in E minor. Posato

Track length3:07

$1.00

$1.25

No 16 in G minor. Presto

Track length1:30

$1.00

$1.25

No 17 in E flat major. Sostenuto – Andante

Track length3:46

$1.00

$1.25

No 18 in C major. Corrente. Allegro

Track length2:31

$1.00

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No 19 in E flat major. Lento – Allegro assai

Track length3:01

$1.00

$1.25

No 20 in D major. Allegretto

Track length2:53

$1.00

$1.25

No 21 in A major. Amoroso

Track length3:09

$1.00

$1.25

No 22 in F major. Marcato

Track length3:01

$1.00

$1.25

No 23 in E flat major. Posato

Track length5:11

$1.00

$1.25

No 24 in A minor. Tema con variazioni. Quasi presto

Track length4:34

$1.00

$1.25

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Paganini’s 24 Caprices Op 1 were considered simply unplayable by most contemporary violinists, but the composer himself bestrode their difficulties with contemptuous ease. A forerunner and inspirer of his younger contemporaries Chopin, Liszt and Berlioz, Paganini was the archetype of the virtuoso performer. His technique was so phenomenal, and his saturnine presence so magnetic, that he was popularly believed to be in league with the Devil. He communicated a new vision of what the violin could achieve.

Virtuoso violinists are plentiful these days, but the challenges posed by the Caprices are still daunting and it is a rare performer who can achieve such insouciant brilliance in this repertoire as the young German violinist Tanja Becker-Bender has in her debut recording for Hyperion.

Reviews

November 2009

If anyone is ever likely to convince you that there is more to Paganini's music than Rossini-in-technical overdrive melodramatics, it is Tanja Becker-Bender. …Becker-Bender gives the Italian's coruscating roulades more room to breathe, characterising each caprice as though it was microcosmic masterpiece of musical expression. Hers may not be the most viscerally exciting version ever recorded, but it is certainly the most satisfying.

27th March 2009

Becker-Bender’s performance is noteworthy for the nonchalance with which she glosses over these difficulties with enough mental effort left over to convincingly hold the musical thought and line...She plays with intensity and maturity, is brilliant of tone in the higher registers, and full-bodiedly gutsy lower down. The performance is impressive on every level

2010

After nearly 200 years, the Paganini Caprices still present a formidable challenge to violinists. The character of the music may persuade them to adopt a bold, theatrical approach (without minding too much about small imperfections of tuning or passages of rough tone); others may prefer a more careful, considered attitude, striving for accuracy and beauty. Tanja Becker- Bender belongs to the second camp. For a few minutes you might wonder if she is missing something of the virtuoso thrill transmitted, but soon you'll be won over.
Adopting generally slower speeds, she has time to turn the music gracefully, articulate cleanly, achieve remarkable purity of tuning, and use variations of tone-colour to open up the music's expressive potential. This results in a sparkling, cleaned-up version of Paganini, sounding the more amazing for its polish and clarity, and bringing into focus the poetic, romantic sensibility that enthralled the composer's contemporaries.
Rarely have the flute and horn imitations in the Ninth Caprice been more persuasively performed, and in No 21, marked amoroso, Becker-Bender manages to retain a tender, intimate tone where many of her rivals equate amorousness with crude intensity. The more brilliant pieces are just as successful. Paganini himself would surely have been impressed and delighted.

May 2009

Adopting generally slower speeds than Rogliano, she has time to turn the music more gracefully, articulate more cleanly, achieve remarkable purity of tuning, and use variations of tone-colour to open up the music's expressive potential. This results in a sparkling, cleaned-up version of Paganini, sounding the more amazing for its polish and clarity, and bringing into focus the poetic, romantic sensibility that enthralled the composer's contemporaries.

Paganini: Caprices for solo violin, Op. 1 Nos. 1-24

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