Fritz Kreisler (violin)
The Complete Recordings Volume 11
Michael Raucheisen (piano)
Kreisler String Quartet
rec. 1930, Kreisler String Quartet (1935) and Bizet (1924)
NAXOS 8.111412 [77:11]
35 years ago, Ward Marston produced two LP box sets for The Strad, the first collecting Fritz Kreisler’s acoustic recordings from 1910-25, the second containing the early electrics made between 1925 and 1929. His transfers for Naxos, all these many years later, have now reached volume 11 and so, given that this latest volume investigates recordings made in 1930 and later, overtakes that Strad edition and in much improved restorations.
In February 1930 Kreisler and Michael Raucheisen recorded a long sequence of discs in Berlin that the violinist had unsuccessfully set down in New York late the previous year with Carl Lamson. They were some staples of his repertoire and most of the pieces were covered in three takes. Three sides weren’t issued on 78s at the time but test pressings survived and duly appear here (the Gluck, Schön Rosmarin and the first take of the Londonderry Air). It’s interesting the Gluck was never issued because it reveals some of the many qualities that so irradiate Kreisler’s playing; the very precisely calibrated use of portamento, the compelling liquidity of his tone, the gracefulness of his phrasing, those captivating gulps that heighten expressive meaning as well as the feeling that left and right hands are part of a single governing mechanism. The third take of Ravel’s Pièce en forme de habanera was authorised for release and, as one hears from the performance of his arrangement of The Old Refrain, the Berlin studio allowed for a fine body and depth of piano tone.
The third take of the Londonderry Air was preferred to the first and I think Kreisler is just that touch more secure in the higher positions in the issued take and has greater tonal authority – but there’s not much in it. His own Polichinelle is charmingly done as is the evergreen La Précieuse in the Style of Couperin whilst one item that tends to be somewhat overlooked in his discography is his arrangement of the Romanze from Weber’s Sonata in F major. This two-day session produced a raft of memorable recordings.
In April 1935 he was in the Abbey Road studios to record the Mendelssohn Concerto and some Beethoven Violin Sonatas. However, there was time for him to record his own String Quartet in A minor. He naturally took the first violin seat. Two members of the London String Quartet were involved, second violinist Thomas Petre, and violist William Primrose. Lauri Kennedy, by common consent one the world’s best orchestral principals, was cellist. Tully Potter is right to point out in his fine notes that Petre had performed in the British premiere of the work in 1921 but probably lacked space to add that he and the LSQ also recorded a substantial part of the work shortly afterwards for Vocalion. This big four-movement work, evocative and romantically coloured, has received recordings in recent years but none is as resonant and flowing or – obviously - as inimitable as Kreisler’s own. For the final side of the set he dashed off his Scherzo in the Style of Dittersdorf in an arrangement for string quartet. There is one bonus track, a late acoustic 1924 recording of Bizet’s Adagietto from his L'Arlésienne Suite No. 1 which he set down with quartet colleagues in New Jersey for Victor. Somewhat remarkably it’s making its first CD appearance.
In short, Kreisler completists can acquire this disc with full confidence.
Jonathan Woolf
Contents
Christoph Willibald GLUCK (1714-1787)
Orphée et Eurydice, Act II: Dance of the Blessed Spirits, "Mélodie" arr. F. Kreisler for violin and piano [3:22]
Maurice RAVEL (1875-1937)
Pièce en forme de habanera [2:46]
Johann BRANDL (1835-1913)
Der liebe Augustin: Du alter Stefansturm (The Old Refrain) arr. F. Kreisler for violin and piano [3:10]
Alexander GLAZUNOV (1865-1936)
2 Morceaux, Op. 20: No. 2. Sérénade espagnole arr. F. Kreisler for violin and piano [2:39]
TRADITIONAL
Londonderry Air arr. F. Kreisler for violin and piano (Take 1) [4:09]
Londonderry Air (arr. F. Kreisler for violin and piano) (Take 3) [4:10]
Fritz KREISLER (1875-1962)
Polichinelle [2:21]
Manuel de FALLA (1876-1946)
7 Canciones populares españolas: No. 4. Jota arr. P. Kochanski for violin and piano [2:46]
Richard HEUBERGER (1850-1914)
Der Opernball (The Opera Ball), Op. 40, Act II: Geh'n wir ins Chambre séparée, "Midnight Bells" arr. F. Kreisler for violin and piano [3:14]
Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828)
Rosamunde, D. 797: Ballet No. 2 in G Major arr. F. Kreisler for violin and piano [3:00]
Fritz KREISLER
La Précieuse in the Style of Couperin [3:21]
Chanson Louis XIII et Pavane in the Style of Couperin (version for violin and piano) [3:38]
Carl Maria von WEBER (1786-1826)
Sonata No. 1 in F Major, Op. 10, J. 99: II. Romanze: Larghetto arr. F. Kreisler for violin and piano [2:44]
Fritz KREISLER
Schön Rosmarin [1:51]
String Quartet in A Minor [27:33]
Scherzo in the Style of Dittersdorf (version for string quartet) [3:26]
Georges BIZET (1838-1875)
L'Arlésienne Suite No. 1: III. Adagietto arr. F. Kreisler for string quartet [2:20]
Bizet: Fritz Kreisler, Alexander Schmidt (violin); Sam Pasternack (viola); Alfred Lennartz (cello)/Rosario Boudron (conductor)
