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Fri, 20 Aug 1999 13:41:47 -0500 |
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Norman Schwartz replies to me on Francescatti's Beethoven Violin Concerto:
>>I'm not thrilled with it. The last movement plods, and it should dance.
>>Walter or somebody chose too slow a tempo. I like the Heifetz with (I
>>think) Munch best. I know people find it slick. I don't.
>
>I enjoy the Francescatti Beethoven concerto tremendously! (as I also do
>his Tchaikovsky with Schippers and Mendelssohn with Szell both on Sony
>2-fers). The Beethoven is played compassionately as coming from a living
>human being.
I share Norman's enthusiasm for Francescatti's Tchaikovsky and Mendelssohn
(I also like his Bernstein Serenade), but his Beethoven . . . I even like
his Kreutzer (yes, better than Heifetz's), but not the concerto. To me,
it's a yawn. It disappointed me, given the calibre of the performers.
>Pfeiffer (the producer of the Heifetz Beethoven recording under
>discussion) informs us that he advised various masters that they have to
>speed up their recorded performances. He suggests the use of speeds in
>recording much faster than live performance since he didn't want the
>listener falling asleep whilst listening to a recording, the assumption
>being that unlike attendance at a concert there is nothing to hold the
>listener's attention home. Heifetz seems to have heeded this instruction
>all too well!
And produced, in my opinion, the liveliest recording. Ah, well.
Steve Schwartz
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