Search - Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Heifetz :: Violin Concerto 2 " Prophets "

Hiefetz brings out the best in everyone...

Joe Anthony (a.k.a. JAG 1) | Massachusetts, USA | 03/02/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Technically speaking, Jascha Heifetz is about the world's greatest violinist we have on recordings. Although, I always liked Isaac Stern's warm and full tone best of all, one cannot fault the flawlessness and dazzling abilities of the master, Jascha Heifetz.



Hiefitz also recorded a great deal of music that was contemporary for his time. Many great composers that he covered such as Max Bruch, Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy, Camille Saint Seans, and Ottorino Respighi were alive during Heifitz's lifetime. Others, which are featured on this CD are contemporaries of Heifetz.



Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco's Violin Concerto #2 "I Profeti" is a tribute to how music is a medium which bridges different cultures. In this case, the Italian composer, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, produces a work that has a Jewish soulfulness. Indeed, it has the feel of those old epic Biblical movie soundtracks, and Hiefetz, being of Russian-Jewish origins plays the central role with plenty of authenticity of feeling.



In the Sonata #1 by Howard Ferguson, Hiefitz is accompanied by Lillian Steuber is an interesting work by an Irish composer. It too has a rhapsodorical feeling although there is also something a bit Celtic or Nordic in feeling as well. The Sonata by Karen Khachaturian, is very much along the lines of the Soviet school of post-war era. It has the central Asian or Armenian flavor that some may even term as "exotica". It is a fine work though, typical of some of the more minor Soviet composers such as Dimitri Kabalevsky or the composer's more famous uncle, Aram Khachaturian.



The Trio by the French Jean Francaix is perhaps the most difficult, but also the most interesting work. Arranged for violin, viola and cello, Heifetz sits in with Joseph dePasquale and Gregor Piategorsky (two giants of the early days of classical recordings). The Francaix piece has more dissonance, or what some might call "modern" sound to it. Hiefetz, dePasquale and Piategorsky, however, rip things up and produce an interesting sound that seems less inviting than the light and airy French music of Debussy and Ravel. Be that as it may, the trio by Francaix showcases the talent the outstanding performers have to offer.



I have been listening to classical music a long, long time (30 years +). Although I have barely hear of, or never heard of, any of these composers, Heifetz is the one that makes the CD worth the experience. Though none of these works, in my view, can be described as "masterpieces", Hiefetz brings out the best in everyone of them.



The CD comes with extensive liner notes in English, German and Italian."