ZINO FRANCESCATTI PLAYS FAVORITE VIOLIN PIECES

ZINO FRANCESCATTI PLAYS FAVORITE VIOLIN PIECES * Zino Francescatti (vn); Artur Balsam (pn);1 Eugene Ormandy, cond;2 Philadelphia O2 * BIDDULPH 80224, mono (72:27)

VITALI (arr. Charlier) Chaconne. KREISLER Praeludium and Allegro. Grave. Minuet. Allegretto. MASSENET Thaïs: Méditation. CHABRIER (arr. Dushkin) Marche joyeuse. POULENC (arr. Heifetz) Presto. VILLA-LOBOS O canto do cysne negro. VALLE (arr. Heifetz) Ao pé da Foqueira. TRAD (arr. Kreisler) Londonderry Air. PAGANINI Variations on "Carnival of Venice."1 SAINT-SAËNS Introduction and Rondo capriccioso.2 RAVEL Tzigane1

Most of the recordings in Biddulph's collection of performances by Zino Francescatti come from sessions on January 5, 1951 (Vitali, Kreisler-including his arrangement of Londonderry Air-Chabrier, Poulenc, Valle, and Villa-Lobos), while Francescatti recorded Saint-Saëns's Introduction and Rondo capriccioso (on November 5, 1950) and Ravel's Tzigane (for a 10-inch 78 disc, according to Eric Wen's note on April 3, 1947) a bit earlier, and Paganini's "Carnival of Venice "Variations a bit later, on April 30, 1954.

Like Heifetz's reading of Vitali's Chaconne (Heifetz had a long history with that work, dating from his American premiere), Francescatti's generates a strong electric charge, with soaring portamentos and bold Romantic gestures. If those don't belong to the period in which the Chaconne supposedly had been written (questions abound even about its authorship, not to mention the authenticity of its figuration for the violin), they're nevertheless convincing...