Fritz Kreisler Plays Kreisler

Fritz Kreisler (Composer), Josef A. Pasternack (Conductor), Charles O'Connell (Conductor), Donald Voorhees (Conductor), Orchestra Alessandro Scarlatti (Orchestra), Victor Orchestra (Orchestra), RCA Victor Orchestra (Orchestra), RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), Carl Lamson (Performer), George Falkenstein (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Carl Lamson, George Falkenstein
• Orchestra: Orchestra Alessandro Scarlatti, Victor Orchestra, RCA Victor Orchestra, RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Josef A. Pasternack, Charles O'Connell, Donald Voorhees
• Composer: Fritz Kreisler
• Audio CD (January 14, 1997)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B000003G1K
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #55,851 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Only Kreisler Can Play Kreisler *****, May 7, 2005

By 

Faddle "Steven" (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fritz Kreisler Plays Kreisler (Audio CD)

What can I say? Only Kreisler can play Kreisler. Get a discography of Fritz Kreisler and start hunting down everything you can find by this man. You can compare violinists; Heifetz has astounding technique, Milstein's always wonderful, Oistrakh is a favorite of many, Kogan can play anything, etc., etc., etc.. But Kreisler... is a unique personality of the violin. Yehudi Menuhin said of him in his autobiography, there are many great violinists with perhaps greater technique in this area or that; but "Kreisler mystifies me." Bruno Walter, the great conductor, said of Kreisler, "He did not play the violin; he BECAME the violin." and this is true. There is something special about Kreisler that transcends violin playing itself. Something heavenly is communicated by him with his instrument. Transfers from old disks are always of varying quality. Kreisler lived a long time ago and recording techniques were very primitive; but Kreisler even seems to rise above the pops and the clicks. Other artists are drowned out by them but Kreisler soars above them and makes one forget they are there. You're focused on the beauty and the background noise seems to disappear entirely. Other violinists have tried
to play Kreisler and perhaps get the notes right, most notably among them, Zino Francescatti (who plays Kreisler better than any other man except Kreisler), but only Kreisler can play Kreisler.
If you want to hear it best, put up with the background hiss. It's worth it. If you want a modern recording, see if you can find Francescatti's tribute album to Fritz Kreisler. it's OOP, but an LP in mint condition sometimes appears on an online auction service. Why the Francescatti album ever went OOP I do not know. He is the only modern violinist that ever really tapped into the soul of 'Fritz' when he plays Kreisler. If the disk is ever again released, snap it up before it goes OOP again. In the final analysis, modern violinists, at most, will give you a representative selection of only about 16 tracks and usually you get the worn chestnuts over and over again. Enough of Kreislers own recordings are still available that you can still get the whole gamut of his discography if you just look. Do so!

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfection, March 7, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Fritz Kreisler Plays Kreisler (Audio CD)

No crap...really? OF COURSE THIS RECORDING IS A TRANSFER! YOU THINK THEY HAVE DIGITAL RECORDING TECHNOLOGY BACK THEN???? Man, that review from Delaware annoys me.

Go with the first review. This recording is a must. It is one of the great violin recordings. Even my old violin teacher advise me to play some of Kreisler stuff to improve techniques. Kreisler is a legend. Lesson and appreciate the beauties of the violin.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Travel to the Old Vienna, January 25, 2006

By 

Sergey Lenkov "Serge" (Mother Russia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fritz Kreisler Plays Kreisler (Audio CD)

Sometimes the author isn`t the best performer of his own works. That`s not the case. I completely agree with the previous reviewer: yes, only Kreisler can play Kreisler.
While listening to this music you so wounderfully feel the spirit of the old Vienna, that most technically perfect record couldn`t compare with this impressions. Treat surface noise of the records made in 1912-1946 as the scent of that distant time (by the way, nearly the age gone) - and you would be completely satisfied, because the playing by Kreisler is so scincere and soulful. So if you like Kreisler - don`t think twice. This is CD for you.