Erica Morini

Before the great conductor Ferenc Fricsay died (tragically young at the age of 48 in 1963), he made dozens of brilliant mono and stereo recordings for Deutsche Grammophon. Many of his most significant recordings have been released on CD, though some have already drifted out-of-print (Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra, Mozart Syms 29, 39-41 and Beethoven Syms 3, 5 & 7) and others are only available as expensive imports. This past year there has even been a limited edition boxed set of his music released (in the "Original Masters" series – see my review).

It is a moot point as to whether issues of gender played some part in the current neglect of artists such as ERICA MORINI, an Austrian-born violinist who spent most of her long career in the United States. Certainly her 1958 Westminster recordings of the Brahms and Tchaikovsky Concertos with the RPO under Artur Rodzinski are very fine indeed, presenting a violinist with a wonderfully sweet tone, impeccable intonation and a marvellous clarity of articulation.

There have been many famous collaborations between musicians who normally are thought of as having solo careers, Rubinstein and Heifetz and Kempff and Fournier to name but a few. Such is also the case with the two artists heard here: violinist Erica Morini and pianist Rudolf Firkusny. Although they enjoyed a brief stint together in the recording studio, as well, on this album we are treated to a rare live performance.

In the golden age of orchestral recording – the 1950s cusp between mono and stereo – American labels piled into London and Vienna after an aggressive union priced their own musicians out of work. At Abbey Road, players worked 30 days on the trot, three sessions a day, to feed a burgeoning market for classical music. In Vienna, the Philharmonic (exclusively contracted to Decca) performed under six different names for other labels.

From a landmark Janacek album to a previously unpublished Schubert/Mozart recording, this collection presents the Deutsche Grammophon, British and American Decca, and Westminster legacy of Rudolf Firkušný (1912-1994), acclaimed by Stereo Review as 'the outstanding champion of Czech piano music on the international circuit'.

There’s a strongly bipartite element to the programming here. Popper’s easy-going, lyrical Romantic charm is pitted against Piatigorsky’s wizardly virtuosity in his Variations on a Paganini Theme. Both were executants of high renown and Popper was the better known as an executant-composer. But Piatogorsky’s transcriptions, arrangements and original works – as here - are well deserving of perpetuation, as this disc amply demonstrates.
Popper’s Suite Op.69 is an extensive four movement affair, not far short of half an hour in length. Its opening ……….

Jonathan Woolf @ musicweb-international.com

This is an excellent compilation that shows Milstein at his polished, elegant best. The performance here of the Brahms concerto stands out in particular, as does the disc of Baroque selections.

Deutsche Grammophon proudly presents 42 of its greatest ever recordings for violin, from its matchless catalogue of the finest violinists of the last 75 years. Fritz Kreisler began it all for the company by recording a series of his own compositions and arrangements. 31 violinists grace 111 The Violin, with recordings from the early 1900s to 2012.