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The Art of Violin 1
Aldo Ferraresi – The Gigli of the Violin: 1929-1973

Unreleased Recordings
Aldo Ferraresi (violin) with accompaniments as below
RHINE CLASSICS RH001 [18 CDs: 28 hours]

Nearly ten years ago I reviewed a set of (largely) broadcast recordings by the great Italian violinist Aldo Ferraresi (review). Released under the aegis of the Comitato Grandi Maestri the nine discs revealed a player of hugely impressive credentials who, even in his less convincing performances, brought to bear a thoroughly musical, vocalized lyricism to his repertoire that never failed to intrigue. Now a decade later the nine discs have swollen to twice that number and the card protection offered the earlier set has been replaced by a splendid and attractive conventional box. There is a 32-page booklet in which one can find full discographic information, an excellent biographical portrait by Gianluca La Villa and some splendidly reproduced photographs. A further piece of good news is that advances in restoration have taken place so that the tapes and LP transfers sound better now, in a number of cases, than in their first appearance.

Given that half the material remains unchanged but that there is so much that is new and that the running order is so different I have incorporated my original thoughts into this new review and will deal with this set on a disc-by-disc basis as before. Before that I’ll reprise a brief biography of a musician who may not be familiar unless one has a knowledge of Italian players of his generation.

Born in 1902 Aldo Ferraresi was heard by the visiting Czech violinists Vaša Příhoda and Jan Kubelík who strongly suggested he go to Brussels to study with Eugène Ysa˙e, a course of action he duly followed. Whilst he didn't record prolifically, there are some 78s to his name and a few LPs. These are mainly of genre pieces for Italian HMV - QDLP6048 and QCLP12025 are the ones to look out for - and others for Odeon and Storia della Musica. To the vexing question as to what happened to the Italian violin school between Arrigo Serato (b. 1877) and Salvatore Accardo (b. 1941) Ferraresi adds a new dimension. Certainly Gioconda de Vito (b. 1907 and thus Ferraresi's junior) made her significant mark, not least in recordings. And Pina Carmirelli (b. 1914), leader of the Boccherini Quartet, was another prominent figure in Italian musical life, as was the even finer Wanda Luzzato (b.1919) but it's true to say that post-Serato, indeed from significantly before, the Italian school slumbered for a while.

And yet, like many another talented musician, Ferraresi's career was somewhat circumscribed - principally as leader in the Orchestra of San Remo and the San Carlo theatre, or as first violin in the San Carlo Quartet. His numerous concerto engagements elevated him to the status, I suppose, of leader-cum-soloist, though the list of conductors with whom he worked was prodigious enough - Barbirolli, Knappertsbusch, Munch, Cluytens, Celibidache and Rodzinski amongst them. His brother, Cesare, some of whose trio recordings on the Aura label I have recently reviewed, was another splendid violinist, though not quite on a par with his older brother, and was a chamber player and teacher of distinction. The brothers also excelled at the art of Tango playing and Aldo once poached a small fortune in his early days with idiomatic performances. Again like many players he plied his trade from the bottom up - the list of violinists who played in café or so-called Gypsy bands is a long and distinguished one.
The first disc couples Mozart and Beethoven. The Mozart Turkish concerto with Carlo Zecchi is played in good style; portamenti are discreet in the slow movement and his singing, rather edgy tone is not at all deficient. New to his discography is a rare performance of the Beethoven Concerto with Erich Schmid in 1960 taken from the violinist’s own private family archive. The orchestra is sometimes untidy but Ferraresi’s feminine, lyric playing more than compensates, his wide dynamic range and daringly slow phrasing in places in the first movement establishing a personal point of view. The bel canto impress of the slow movement contrasts finely with a youthful and joyful legato in the finale. He plays the Kreisler cadenza. It’s excellent that a performance of this concerto has turned up at last.

The second disc introduces one of several performances of Paganini’s Violin Concerto No.1, here with Luciano Rosada conducting. Like many artists he can be heard at his most communicative live, taking chances, and he’s certainly on scintillating form here – I prefer this 1962 rendition to those directed elsewhere in this box by Franco Gallini (on disc three, from a seemingly obscure 1963 LP) and that conducted by Ferruccio Scaglia (disc 4). With quasi-improvisatory élan and a soprano’s bel canto line he makes real music out of this warhorse, dealing with Sauret’s cadenza splendidly – even groaning (in satisfaction?) at a couple of points too, if my ears don’t deceive me). Those whistling harmonics over accompanying orchestral pizzicati are dapper indeed, the performance receiving merited applause. Bazzini’s Fourth Concerto follows – an acrobatic and aerial opus strong on quasi-operatic vocalism and thus a perfect fit for the Gigli of the Violin, as he was sometimes known. Dynamic variance and shading are the keys to the slow movement and with fine, up-front winds this is an excellent performance. Two famous Paganini pieces close this second disc, both taken from studio LP performance with Aldo’s brother Augusto helping at the piano. They are played on Il cannone, Paganini’s own Guarneri violin, which imparts an even greater frisson.

That Gallini-directed Paganini No.1 sounds a mite over-cautious set against live Ferraresi performances but it’s followed by the same composer’s finger busting Fourth Concerto. Operatic finesse and elegance are here in profusion alongside some occasionally smeary playing when he starts to emote. The bowing though is worthy of a master class in itself.

Disc four leads with the Paganini No.1 (once more) directed in 1966 in Rome by Ferruccio Scaglia. Ferraresi’s silvery upper voices are always a delight here – though the lower strings are not quite as forthcoming. Ultimately one feels - in certain repertory - depth of tone is missing from his armoury. The playing really zips along, helped by the fluid, fluent Gallic bowing. The recording is close-up so we can detect bowing abrasions; there’s also a co-ordination problem after the cadenza but Ferraresi always made real music out of Paganini, not gymnastics. Mario Guarino’s traditional sounding Concerto was composed in 1948 and dedicated to Ferraresi. It has some luscious moments, a warm sense of nostalgia, freely expressive and generous; the finale summons up things Waltonian and also strange echoes of Rosenkavalier. Ferraresi plays it with delicious abandon.

Disc Five gives us his famous Tchaikovsky (Naples, Delogu, 1968). He rushes rather a lot in the first movement but he withdraws his slim, highly focused tone to advantage in the Canzonetta. The finale is powerful though marred by instances of a deficiency of his, some slithery lower string passages. Then comes another work dedicated to the violinist by Stjepan Šulek; some may have come across his excellent symphonies. He was himself a fiddle player and knows perfectly how to write such a work. With Ferraresi is a frequent conducting confrere, the ever-dependable Scaglia in 1956. Taken from a RAI transcription this is therefore a first recording of the Concerto. Touching on elements of Richard Strauss, Delius, impressionism, Brahmsian cadences, Tchaikovskian solo figuration and brief Sibelian hints in the slow movement this a work that breathes new life into ‘eclecticism’. Ferraresi is just as good in the jovial, more overtly Brahmsian finale. Again, this is from the vaults of the Ferraresi family and we’re privileged to hear it. The disc is completed by the Dvořák Capriccio-Konzertstück – maybe he’d heard Příhoda play it. It’s little played but well conducted by the ever-excellent Leopold Ludwig and Ferraresi finds some new tone colours to shade it.

CD6 continues the fine retrieval work with a 1971 recording from the family archive. This is Alfredo D’Ambrosio’s Concerto No.1 in B minor, composed in 1903 and dedicated to the great Arrigo Serato. The Neapolitan composer was a student of Sarasate and collectors of madly obsessional status will know D’Ambrosio left behind some early recordings as a fiddler. This was recorded in-concert on cassette and is heard in rather basic sound. Nevertheless, it’s an important discovery and the violin, fortunately, being more forward, is heard better than the orchestra under Carlo Farina. Ferraresi’s warmth and cantabile find a perfect vehicle here, not least in the lovely Aria that is the central movement and the pirouetting finale. One of his party pieces was Paganini’s Nel cor più, of which there are several examples in this set; the one in this disc was an encore from the D’Ambrosio concert. In his own revision it’s more incisive than the other examples. This disc concludes with another performance of the Guarino Concerto, a studio inscription with Farina directing; it’s a more formal and less intense performance than the live one under Scaglia

CD7 may seem to reprise two British concertos from the first edition a decade ago. True, the first is the same, a 1966 live Milan reading of the Elgar. This was long known to be amongst the preserved archival material, and was conducted by Argento in 1966. The performance is very fast, about the fastest I’ve ever heard and to my ears firmly predicated on the Heifetz model. Ferraresi cuts note values short in the early part of the first movement with unsatisfactory results and some of the passagework is unshapely and lacking in perception. The slow movement however is committed and fine, the finale intensely driven. The tempo is challenging but I’d rather a fast one than a languishing one in this concerto. Demerits also include a lack of heft in tonal matters. The conducting is first class. The performance of the Walton Concerto coupled with the Elgar, however, is a great surprise: it’s from the Royal Festival Hall in London where Ferraresi is partnered in November 1955 by Beecham’s RPO conducted by Walton himself. The hall is characteristically dry but there’s colourful Mediterranean fervor to the soloist’s playing and clearly sympathetic collaboration between Ferraresi and Walton. Walton is on record as having preferred the Italian’s playing to that of Campoli – which is saying something – and he conducted the concerto in Italy in 1953 with Ferraresi. In my previous review I lamented that no recording with Walton conducting Ferraresi was known to exist and I’m delighted to be proved wrong as this can confidently be stacked next to Walton’s conducting for Heifetz in 1950 and for the American Berl Senofsky on tour in New Zealand in 1964. Tempi are very similar in all cases.

The version of the Walton familiar from that earlier box appears in volume 8 where one can hear his concerto with Milton Forstat conducting the Milan RAI orchestra in 1961. Here the model is possibly Heifetz – a view I’ve modified since first hearing it where I didn’t think it was albeit Ferraresi is consistently slightly slower – in fact his approach architecturally reminds one more of his eminent successor Accardo. Rhapsodic and expressive, unpressured – both in approach and string weight - and eloquent this brings a knowing and idiomatic performance. Following this there’s another huge surprise in the shape of Arthur Benjamin’s Romantic Fantasy for violin, viola and small orchestra of 1956 heard in a Zurich reading in 1963. Whilst this is classic Heifetz and Primrose territory Ferraresi and violist Hermann Friedrich, whilst clearly acknowledging their eminent elders, sound surprisingly much more akin to a modern conception of the work from McAslan and Bradley on Epoch. Thus the Scherzino isn’t taken hell-for-leather as it is with Heifetz and Primrose who sound as if they’ve embarked on a sprint to the death. Nimble, dexterous and apt this is another hugely welcome addition to the slim discography of the violinist.

Disc nine houses Shostakovich’s First, taped in 1959 with Mario Rossi. This was an early example of his radio art – in fact it’s the earliest such here – and shows his dedication to contemporary works for the violin. He takes a tempo not dissimilar to that habitually adopted by Kogan though the Italian is broader in the slow movement. Nevertheless, Ferraresi is less dexterously colourful than Russian players. He was a Franco-Belgian player and one finds repeatedly that he doesn’t dig into the string as Auer pupils or other more modern tonalists do. In this respect, I’d point to the playing in this work of Oistrakh and Kogan – whose powerful incision is not mirrored by Ferraresi – and by analogue the Delius playing of Sammons and May Harrison; the former who digs powerfully into the string and the latter whose serene elegance is more the kind of thing Ferraresi does. As a result the Passacaglia takes on a rather different complexity – one that lacks the obvious sense of “weight.” Another composer who did manage to have a performance preserved was Khachaturian. This was taped in Turin in 1963. The recording fortunately is not one those blowsy Soviet jobs, and the soloist is not as spotlit as Kogan and Oistrakh in their preserved readings with the composer. The reading conforms to one’s expectations – a lighter, wristier, performance, less intense or oratorical, less portentous and less truly expressive; the kind of way Thibaud might have approached it had his concerto repertoire stretched beyond his statutory single-finger commitments.

The two little works by Savatore Allegra (1898-1993) are unpretentious. Salvatore Jachino’s 1930 Sonata dramamtica – once again with Forstat, this time from Rome in 1960.  It’s a one-movement work but clearly cast into three sections. It’s predominately lyrical, well-structured and ends with a Straussian sunset – a good vehicle for Ferrraresi. Franco Mannino died in 2005. His Paganini-inspired ten-minute Capriccio dei Capricci is rather an odd work; it mixes direct quotation with, once more, some Straussian richness and a degree of frantic orchestral response and then a cataclysmic end. A Paganinian quartet of pieces completes this disc. There’s the inevitable Nel cor più and Le streghe but of especial note, because of their relative rarity, are the Adagio e Tamburino (beautifully done) and Vaša Příhoda’s arrangement of Sonatina No.12.

The intriguing thing about disc 11 is that it presents a rare example of Ferraresi’s string quartet in action. This is the Quartetto di San Remo, heard in Brahms’ Piano Quintet in F minor, Op.34 with pianist Marco Martini on a 1963 LP. I sense the outer movements might have been fierier had the performance been live. As it is there’s a somewhat constrained quality to the Allegro non troppo opening, though there are expressive elements to be heard along the way The Kreutzer sonata was taped in 1970. This was recorded close to the microphone so the brittle and resinous attacks are audible. Phrasing in the central movement is gracioso though there are brief bowing troubles. The finale is underpowered.

The twelfth disc excavates all the Brahms sonatas, heard in an unedited rehearsal tape from RAI Naples over three days in March 1965. There is damage and loss of bars in the Opp.100 and 108 sonatas but Op.78 is intact. As the original radio masters were destroyed it’s a good thing Ferraresi kept a copy. In general, though, these are occasionally perplexing examples of his art. Op.78 mixes a fast opening – complete with liquid flexibility in rubati – with a devastatingly slow Adagio at which tempo things sound merely dogged. If you thought Adolf Busch the master of fast-is-fast and slow-is-very-slow tempi, take a listen to Ferraresi here. The finale is crazily fast ignoring completely the instruction to take it Allegro molto moderato. Bizarre! Op.100 has an abrupt cut off before the end of the opening movement and there are lost bars in the central movement. there’s some tape wobble in the opening of the Op.108 sonata, where the Adagio is unusually slow for 1965. Ernesto Galdieri is the adaptable pianist.

Like Brahms, and in the Kreutzer, I find Ferraresi’s Fauré somewhat undistinguished. This surprised me given the violinist’s Franco-Belgian pedigree. It exaggerates an occasional weakness of his, which is a rather tremulous and unfocused tone. Intonation wanders as well in a sluggish and unconvincing traversal with false entries and too-slow portamenti.  Perhaps he was having a bad day. The remainder of the disc is devoted to the important business of works by Ferraresi’s teacher, Ysa˙e. The first edition’s transfers however, preserved badly compromised tape wobble on some of the items, especially ruinous on the Poème Élégiaque, Op.12. Fortunately, these deficiencies have been ironed out and sound excellent and the results confirm what an impressive performer of his teacher Ferraresi was. The Divertimento is full of pert, luscious and playful playing and is heard in two versions – one for piano, the other for orchestra. Ferraresi has important things to impart on the subjects of lineage and style in this repertoire even in a very late 1971 performance of Chant d’hiver, bedecked with sinuous inflexions.
 
Maybe the Strauss sonata could do with a more youthful burnish but it’s certainly not the over-cautious and frankly phlegmatic vehicle it seems to have become in the hands of some of the more youthful of today’s players. In fact, it stands up well to close scrutiny. Turina is represented by his El Poema de una Sanluqueña. The purposeful terpsichorean elements of this are convincingly met by the duo, who show a real affinity for the genre as they show in the same composer’s La oración del torero, both with Galdieri in 1966. Sarasate’s Romanza Andaluza is played in 1963 on Paganini’s 1742 Guarneri violin.

Franco Alfano’s 1923 Sonata is driven through with characteristic vitesse and yet he certainly reveals its Delius-like moments - it would have been most intriguing had Ferraresi performed the Delius Concerto. There are trace elements of Respighi and Grieg No.3 as well – and a meaty slow movement, excellently realised by the violinist and the fine Ernesto Galdieri. Höller’s Music for violin and piano is impressive in its absorption of neo-baroque models. The short, yet austerely lyric sections are splendidly performed, the violinist’s light and elegant playing a real help in the many moments of elastic refinement. Mario Guarino’s Violin Sonata is digestible though not necessarily more distinctive. Its tonal and lyrical profile seemingly fitted Ferraresi’s temperament very nicely and the puckish finale is a delight.
Disc 16 introduces the contents of a rare November 1956 LP on Italian HMV. It wears a ‘Ferraresi plays Heifetz’ look with elegant precision and repertory covering Gershwin, Arensky and Weber in Heifetz’s own arrangements. In the last-named there’s a telltale Heifetz slide but there’s true grace in these readings. The companion LP is similarly a salute to the great Russian violinist though strangely the piano of Galdieri sounds cloudier and backward – strangely because I assume both LPs were recorded at the same time in November 1956. Inevitably he lacks Heifetz’s audacious intensity though the Gershwin pieces are clearly modelled after the Master. The Debussy lacks Thibaud’s sensuality but there’s a gorgeous reading of Gennaro Napoli’s Aria.

In the first edition, there were a handful of 78s. Here on the penultimate seventeenth CD, we have nine tracks, the earliest dating from 1929, two of which include performances by the 1934 version of the Quartetto di San Remo. The Bazzini is very rushed and undisciplined but we also get to hear a truncated Le streghe, two versions of the Bach-Gounod Ave Maria – one with soprano Enrica Alberti – as well as Příhoda’s famed Rosenkavalier Waltz selections. The quartet sides seem to have given the restoration team the most difficulty. The age-old Tchaikovsky-Borodin coupling sounds a bit sub-par in the transfers.

The final disc is a 52-minute talk by Ferraresi in his late gravel voice – in Italian with no printed English translation – reminiscing about his youth, his time with Ysa˙e and career. I don’t speak Italian but it almost makes me want to learn. Throughout, the recorded sound varies according to source material – whether radio masters, 78s, LPs or reel-to-reel tapes but Emilio Pessina has done a fine job on all these matters.

The “Gigli of the Violin” has been given a worthy tribute in this comprehensive collection reboot. The notes are in English only. Ferraresi was a rather fascinating character and these performances, even when flawed, invariably show spontaneity and excitement. Full marks to all concerned for revisiting and enlarging and improving the already substantial earlier edition. This new box does Ferraresi’s memory proud.

Jonathan Woolf

Track Listing

CD1
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART(1756-1791)
Violin Concerto No.5 Turkish K219 (1775) [38:47]
Orchestra Alessandro Scarlatti, Naples/Carlo Zecchi, recorded 21 June 1960
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Violin Concerto in D major, Op.61 (1806) [41:20]
Radio-Orchester Beromünster/Erich Schmid, recorded 20 May 1963

CD2
Niccolò PAGANINI (1782-1840)
Violin Concerto No.1 Op.6, M.S.21 (1816) [31:11]
Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma della RAI/Luciano Rosada, recorded 19 April 1962
Antonio BAZZINI (1818-1897)
Violin Concerto No.4 in A minor, Op.38 (1865) [18:05]
Orchestra Alessandro Scarlatti, Naples/Franco Gallini, recorded 13 June 1961
Niccolò PAGANINI (1782-1840)
“Nel cor più non mi sento” for solo violin, M.S.44 (1827) rev. Aldo Ferraresi [8:51]
Le streghe, Op.8 M.S.19 (1813) arr. Fritz Kreisler [9:42]
Augusto Ferraresi (piano), recorded 1963, studio recording, Milan

CD3
Niccolò PAGANINI (1782-1840)
Violin Concerto No.1 Op.6, M.S.21 (1816) [32:41]
Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma/Franco Gallini, recorded 1963, studio recording, Rome
Violin Concerto No.4 in D minor, M.S.60 (1829-30) [27:41]
Orchestra Sinfonica RAI Milan/Franco Gallini, recorded 27 April 1963

CD4
Niccolò PAGANINI (1782-1840)
Violin Concerto No.1 Op.6, M.S.21 (1816) [32:12]
Orchestra Sinfonica RAI Rome/Ferruccio Scaglia, recorded 19 November 1966
Mario GUARINO (1900-1971)
Violin Concerto (1948) [38:15]
Orchestra Sinfonica RAI Milan/Ferruccio Scaglia, recorded 30 July 1969

CD5
Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
Violin Concerto Op.35 (1878) [31:37]
Orchestra Alessandro Scarlatti, Naples/Gaetano Delogu, recorded 14 July 1968
Stjepan ŠULEK (1914-1986)
Violin Concerto in D minor (1951) [30:57]
Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma della RAI/Ferruccio Scaglia, recorded 30 June 1956
Antonin DVOŘÁK (1841-1904)
Capriccio-Konzertstück B81, Op.24 (1878) [9:29]
Orchestra Alessandro Scarlatti, Naples/Leopold Ludwig, recorded 1 April 1967

CD6
Alfredo D’AMBROSIO (1871-1914)
Violin Concerto No.1 in B minor, Op.29 (1903) [25:41]
Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice/Carlo Farina, recorded 1971
Niccolò PAGANINI (1782-1840)
“Nel cor più non mi sento” for solo violin, M.S.44 (1827) rev. Aldo Ferraresi [6:18]
Recorded as encore of above concerto performance
Mario GUARINO (1900-1971)
Violin Concerto (1948) [37:39]
Radio-Orchester Beromünster/Carlo Farina, recorded 1968 in studio


CD7
Edward ELGAR (1857-1934)

Violin Concerto in B minor Op.61 (1910) [41:40]
Orchestra Sinfonica RAI Milan/Pietro Argento, recorded 22 March 1966
William WALTON (1902-1983)
Violin Concerto (1938-39) [27:33]
RPO/William Walton, recorded 16 November 1966

CD8
William WALTON (1902-1983)
Violin Concerto [29:43]
Orchestra Sinfonica RAI Milan/Milton Forstat, recorded 26 May 1961
Arthur BENJAMIN (1893-1960)
Romantic Fantasy for violin, viola and small orchestra (1956) [22:47]
Hermann Friedrich (viola)/
Radio-Orchester Beromünster/Erich Schmid, recorded 1963
Jean SIBELIUS (1865-1957)
Two Solemn Melodies, Op.77a (1914-15) [9:48]
Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma della RAI/Armando La Rosa Parodi, recorded 12 June 1965

CD9
Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH (1906-1975)
Violin Concerto No.1 in A minor, Op.77(99) (1948 rev 1955)   [34:27]
Orchestra Sinfonica RAI Turin/Mario Rossi, recorded 15 May 1959
Aram KHACHATURIAN (1903-1978)
Violin Concerto in D minor (1940) [34:07]
Orchestra Sinfonica RAI Turin/Aram Khachaturian, recorded 12 April 1963

CD10
Carlo JACHINO (1887-1971)

Sonata drammatica per violino e orchestra (1930) [20:16]
Orchestra Sinfonica RAI Rome/Milton Forstat, recorded 1 July 1960
Salvatore ALLEGRA (1898-1993)
Violinata alla luna per violino e orchestra [4:48]
Il Pastore errante per violino e orchestra [4:52]
Orchestra Alessandro Scarlatti, Naples/Salvatore Allegra, recorded 27 April 1973
Franco MANNINO (1924-2005)
Capriccio di Capricci (da Paganini due studi per orchestra di virtuosi) Op.50 (1969) [10:47]
Orchestra Sinfonica RAI Rome/Franco Mannino, recorded 19 April 1969
Niccolò PAGANINI (1782-1840)
“Nel cor più non mi sento” for solo violin, M.S.44 (1827) rev. Aldo Ferraresi [8:30]
Adagio e Tambourino arr Michelangelo Abbado, 1940 [3:48]
Le streghe, Op.8 M.S.19 (1813) arr. Fritz Kreisler [8:55]
Sonatina No.12 in E minor, Op.3 No.6, M.S.27 (1805-09)
Augusto Ferraresi (piano), recorded 1966, telecast recording, Rome

CD11
Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897)
Piano Quintet in F minor, Op.34 (1864) [38:57]
Quartetto di San Remo, recorded 1963, Milan, studio recording
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Violin Sonata No.9 Op.47 Kreutzer (1804) [30:45]
Ernesto Galdieri (piano) recorded 20 November 1970

CD12
Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897)
Sonata No. 1 in G major for Violin and Piano, Op. 78 (1879) [24:54]
Sonata No. 2 in A major for Violin and Piano, Op. 100 (1886) [18:21]
Sonata No. 3 in D minor for Violin and Piano, Op. 108 (1886-88) [19:53]
Ernesto Galdieri (piano), recorded telecasts March 1965 in Naples studios, with some damage and loss of bars in Sonatas 2 and 3

CD13
Gabriel FAURÉ (1845-1924)
Violin Sonata No.1 in A major, Op.13 (1876) [25:51]
Ernesto Galdieri (piano) recorded 21 July 1965
Eugene YSAŸE(1858-1931)
Poème élégiaque in D minor, Op.12 (1893) [15:40]
Chant d’hiver in B minor,Op.15 (1902) [10:01]
Divertimento Op.24 (1920-21) [8:14]
Ernesto Galdieri (piano) recorded 21 July 1965
Divertimento (Fantaisie for violin and orchestra), Op.24 (1920-21) [9:40]
Orchestra Sinfonica RAI Rome/Massimo Freccia, recorded 23 December 1964

CD14
Richard STRAUSS (1864-1949)
Violin Sonata Op.18 [28:27]
Ernesto Galdieri (piano) recorded 20 November 1970
Pablo de SARASATE (1844-1908)
Romanza Andaluza, Op.22 No.1 (1878) [5:02]
Augusto Ferraresi (piano), recorded 1963
Joaquin TURINA (1882-1949)
La Oracion del Torero for violin and piano, Op.34 (1925) [8:19]
Ernesto Galdieri (piano) recorded 12 May 1966
El Poema de una Sanluqueña, Op.28 (1923) [20:11]
Ernesto Galdieri (piano) recorded 12 May 1966

CD15
Franco ALFANO (1876-1954)
Violin Sonata (1923) [25:58]
Ernesto Galdieri (piano) recorded 10 December 1973
Mario GUARINO (1900-1973)
Violin Sonata [21:53]
Ernesto Galdieri (piano) recorded 12 April 1972
Karl HÖLLER (1908-1987)
Music for violin and piano Op.27 [23:55]
Ernesto Galdieri (piano) recorded 11 October 1971

CD16
George GERSHWIN (1898-1937)
Prelude No.3 (1926) arr. Jascha Heifetz (1942) [1:18]
My Man’s Gone Now from Porgy and Bess, arr. Jascha Heifetz (1944) [3:38]
It Ain’t Necessarily So, from Porgy and Bess, arr. Jascha Heifetz (1944) [2:39]
Prelude No.1 (1926) arr. Jascha Heifetz (1940) [1:27]
Claude DEBUSSY (1862-1918)
Images, 1st Book: No.3 Mouvement arr. Samuel Dushkin [2:28]
Ballade, pour piano, arr. Louis Carembat (1924) [6:06]
La plus que lente, Valse arr Léon Roques [3:48]
Preludes, Book I, No.8: La fille aux cheveux de lin, arr Arthur Hartmann [2:21]
Leopold GODOWSKY (1870-1938)
12 Impressions: No.12 Wienerische, in F major [4:00]
Fritz KREISLER (1875-1962)
Grave in the style of W.F.Bach (1911) [4:30]
Gypsy Caprice (1927) [4:41]
Maurice RAVEL (1875-1937)
Sonatine. II Mouvement de Menuet arr. Léon Roques [3:09]
Christoph Willibald von GLUCK (1714-1897)
Mélodie (Dance of the Blessed Spirits) from Orfeo and Euridice arr Fritz Kreisler (1913) [3:02]
Igor STRAVINSKY (1882-1971)
Danse russe from Petrouchka arr Samuel Dushkin [2:35]
Carl Maria von WEBER (1786-1826)
Violin Sonata in D minor, Op.10 No.3: III Rondo arr Jascha Heifetz (1933) [3:02]
Anton ARENSKY (1861-1906)
Violin Concerto in A minor, Op.54: III Tempo di Valse arr Jascha Heifetz (1950s) [3:46]
Antonín DVOŘÁK (1841-1904)
Slavonic Dance No.3 in G major, Op.72 No.8 arr Fritz Kreisler (1914) [4:15]
Songs My Mother Taught Me, Op.55 No.4 arr Fritz Kreisler (1914) [2:37]
Felix MENDELSSOHN (1809-1847)
On Wings of Song: Op.34 No.2 arr Joseph Achron ed Jascha Heifetz (1933) [3:43]
Gennaro NAPOLI (1881-1943)
Aria [4:58]
Joseph ACHRON (1886-1943)
2 Stimmungen, Op.32: No.1 Andantino malinconico (1910) [2:27]
Ernesto Galdieri (piano) recorded 1956, Milan for LPs

CD17
Antonio BAZZINI (1818-1897)
Le Ronde de lutins Op.25 [3:04]
Prospero Ferraresi (piano), recorded 1929
Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750)-Charles GOUNOD
Ave Maria, Meditation on Prelude No.1 in C major WTC1 [4:34]
Niccolò PAGANINI (1782-1840)
Le streghe, Op.8 M.S.19 (1813) arr. Fritz Kreisler: Part 1 only [4:50]
Carlo Vidusso (piano), recorded 1929
Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750)-Charles GOUNOD
Ave Maria, Meditation on Prelude No.1 in C major WTC1 [4:29]
Enrica Alberti (soprano)/Carlo Vidusso (piano), recorded 1929
Jules MASSENET (1842-1912)
Méditation from Thaïs arr. Martin Marsick [4:19]
Carlo Vidusso (piano), recorded 1929
Franz LISZT (1811-1886)
Liebesträume: Nocturne No.3 in A flat major, S.541/3 arr. Joseph Achron [4:43]
Richard STRAUSS (1864-1949)
Der Rosenkavalier, Op.59, Act III: Waltz Sequence No.2 arr. Vaša Příhoda [4:44]
Giorgio Favaretto (piano), recorded 1943
Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
String Quartet No.1 in D major, Op.11: II Andante cantabile (1871) [7:00]
Alexander BORODIN (1833-1887)
String Quartet No.2 in D major: III. Nocturne. Andante (1881) [6:37]
Quartetto di San Remo, recorded 1934

 
CD18
Aldo Ferraresi in his own words; remembering his youth, his career and his time with Eugène Ysa˙e; spoken reminiscences by Aldo Ferraresi from the mid-1970s [52:20]
Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828)
Ave Maria, Op.52 No.2, D839 (1825) arr, Aldo Ferraresi [4:31]

 

 



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