Corigliano: The Red Violin Caprices / Thomson: Three Portraits; Five Ladies; Eight Portraits

Quint (Artist), Wolfram (Artist), Corigliano (Composer), Thomson (Composer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Composer: Corigliano, Thomson
• Audio CD (May 27, 2008)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Naxos American Classics
• ASIN: B001716IW0
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #241,212 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Buffalo News, Jeff Simon, June 2008

A spectacular and brilliantly programmed disc by a spectacular 34-year-old violinist most recently renowned for being one of the platoon of string virtuosos to leave his Stradivarius in the back of a taxi. Corigliano's music ¯ the fiendishly difficult and extravagant neo- Paganini solo caprices from his Oscar-winning soundtrack music for "The Red Violin" and the 1963 violin-piano sonata ¯ couldn't be more different from Virgil Thomson's. Corigliano is the sort of living neo-Romantic one would expect a violinist in his mid-30s to be passionate about. Altogether different is the aphoristic, witty, suave, nostalgic and charming violin music of Virgil Thomson, who always said that he had to go to Paris to write music about Kansas City. What here unites the two disparate ¯ but enormously appealing composers¯ is the tremendous young violinist taking up the music's cause. To put it mildly, modern and especially living composers (Corigliano is 70 and very much with us) can seldom count on performances as remarkable as this.

Product Description

John Corigliano has revisited his score for the 1997 film The Red Violin several times. In The Red Violin Caprices, content is allied to a technique making strenuous demands on the performer. The pensive Theme is identical in substance to that heard in the earlier Chaconne (Naxos 8.559306), and its five variations range in style from the Paganinian virtuosity of the first, to the restrained `folk' tinge of the third. Corigliano's Violin Sonata is among his earliest acknowledged works, its final Allegro enhanced by some scintillating instrumental interplay. Coming from a very different musical background, and representing a very different musical aesthetic, Virgil Thomson's music displays a skilful assimilation of Gallic clarity and an American-derived nostalgia, with hymn tunes and traditional songs often being evident.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sensational, April 16, 2009

By 

David Saemann - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Corigliano: The Red Violin Caprices / Thomson: Three Portraits; Five Ladies; Eight Portraits (Audio CD)

Philippe Quint is one of the great finds of the Naxos label. I have his previous recordings of Schuman and Rorem's violin concertos and Bernstein's Serenade, all of which are superb. This CD is my first experience of Quint as a recitalist, and it was even better than I expected. The CD contains John Corigliano's endorsement of Quint's playing of the Red Violin Caprices, and I can't agree more. One would love to hear Quint tackle the Paganini Caprices, but there already is a fine recording of these on Naxos by Ilya Kaler. The Corigliano Sonata is a wonderful, early work, inhabiting much the same sonic world as the composer's Piano Concerto. I listened to it twice in one evening, so vivid was the playing of both Quint and Wolfram. The Virgil Thomson pieces are very conversational in their bearing. Here, Quint plays with intimacy and delicacy, whether partnered sparely by Wolfram or as a solo in the delightful Eight Portraits. This is an essential disc of American music for violin.