Customer Reviews

Paganini: 24 Caprices (Great Recordings of the Century)

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I find it sad that there are reviews which state that "For musicality, Perlman is the best...but there are more technically perfect recordings, and for that reason I recommend X over this one."

Perlman does indeed play with the most musicality of any violinist I have yet heard, and in my mind this is FAR more important than absolute technical perfection. There are a few technical flubs in the disc - mostly intonation. This, however, does not stop me from listening to these tracks - I enjoy them every bit as much as the "flawless caprices" because of Perlman's innate understanding of what music should sound like. He does not treat the first caprice like another etude - in the veritable overload of notes he finds musical meaning, just as he does in the beginning of the seventh.

In the liner notes there is a picture of Perlman playing with an expression of the utmost joy on his face. I think that accurately sums up this disc - both for performer and listener.

I bought this CD without knowing any of the pieces (although after getting it I realized that I had heard Caprice 24 before!), so I'm saying this with no point of reference... This CD contains some breath taking music.

From the first Caprice, Perlman shines in this incredibly difficult pieces. His technique and intonation sound pretty much flawless to me, and his sound is full and beautiful.

My personal favorite Caprices are No. 1 (amazing bow work), No. 6 (double stops and tremolos galore - sounds like at least 3 violins at once!), No. 17 (quick and flawless octaves) and No. 24 (just plan amazing all around).

Despite Perlman's virtuosity, these pieces are also beautiful music. I'm very impressed with Paginini's compositional skills. He manages to write music that is incredibly difficult, but never sacrifices the music in the process.

You will be thrilled with CD. You can't go wrong (it's pretty cheap too!)

I have listened to three versions of Paganini's 24 Caprices and all I can say is that this is probably the best version around period. Itzhak Perlman is someone I could worship for this recording. His rendition makes you feel that the maestro Paganini is the one playing. In its label it says "Great Recordings of the Century" I could never disagree with that.

Perlman could play some of these as a teenager. Tell me, you people who think you know a lot, could you? Perlman's recordings are as close to perfect as Paganini's would have been. I am totally convinced that no body has topped this recording to date. When I imput these caprices as MIDI files to practice along with them, I find Perlman's intonation right on. Also, my favorite thing to do with this recording is to listen with the manuscript in front of me. I can hear every note of every chord and arpeggio, with the music in front of me. When I listen to it plainly and I am not looking for it, sometiems those bass notes escape me. However, what is scary is Perlman's ability to hold tempo. Caprice 16 shows this off pefectly. If none of you have ever seen the music, in measure 8 there is a repeat. It takes Perlman 10 seconds to arrive at the repeat, and exactly 10 seconds to return. As for difficult passages, Perlman DOES nail them [ie. Caprice 17-Fingered octaves(kept in tempo!), Caprice 24-Left hand pizz var, Caprice 6-Independent finger movement...the list goes on and on.] Those are my two-cents.

I have played the viola for 10 years now and have been given opprotunities to hear a broad variety of artists in the string realm. That one is able to play any one of Paganini's Caprices competantly such that there is adaquet sound from the instrument without scratching or losing contact in the upper extremes says more than words are able to about a player's abilities. Paganini's Caprices are lively pieces that challenge a string player's dexterity and quickness in both the left and right hands. These performances show his technical mastery. Itzhak Perlman is able to master each caprice with unsurpassed quality. That Itzhak Perlman can perform such that he retains the sound as does a jewel in the sunlight on all 24 caprices is of a quality that is beyond measurable boundaries.

Perlman's 24 Caprices has been a critics' favorite. This is a fine recording, yet sometimes he sounds too imposing throughout and lacks in dimension. Though a lot of people claim this to be, this is not technically perfect performance either. He sounds quite good on fast pieces and passages, but he loses force and intensity in difficult double stoppings and octave trills, it sounds scratchy and quite obvious. I am not saying this is a bad performance, this is actually very good, but there are more interesting ones out there.

My choice would go to Midori, James Ehnes and Michael Rabin. Midori's is probably THE ONE. Her Caprices are amazingly accurate and there is an air of serenity and depth in music. James Ehnes performs like fire with great technique. He contrasts the music in such an exciting way. Though it is an old recording, Michael Rabin's Caprices show his uniquely-sophisticated style with refreshing nuances here and there.

Those 3 stand out and make Perlman's Caprices sound relatively round and mediocre.

So what can we say about Perlman's technique? With his sweet tone and carefully controlled speed, Perlman's playing of the Caprices is simply flawless. One may critise that his playing lacks the spontaneous excitment which Rabin offers, but it's obviously a trade-off.

To me, Perlman is very smart -- in the sense that he learned from but not copied from Heifetz. He has never tried to make his playing as fast as Heifetz's. The smartest thing is that he knows the difference between a studio recording and live recording. If you compare Perlman's concerto perfromances (studio v.s. live) then you can immediately note the difference between their speed and the amount of pressure given. A recording with too much stress can't stand repeated listening although you may call it dazzling at the first glance.

Buy this CD and compare it with Rabin's. You will love Perlman's honey-toned, technically flawless playing -- once you realise this is Perlman's art and Perlman's music.

This is certainly a very good recording of the caprices, but there are at least 3 or four better ones out there. The layman might be fooled into thinking that Perlman is the ultimate virtuoso, but connoisseurs know better. I would submit the Paganini caprice recordings of Shlomo Mintz, Midori, Michael Rabin, and for those into vintage recordings, Ossy Renardy. They are superior to Perlman on a violinistic, if not musical level. Perlman's greatest strength is his musical personality, not his technique. In that respect, there are others who are superior to him.

I still think caprice no.1 is played best by Perlman. Now when i got this this cd I listened for 2 years non-stop and I was still discovering new things about it(I really recommend to listen with notes in front of you!).Every single performance on this cd gives you that "wow" feeling and its sort of a "kick in the gut" performance type of thing,and you really feel that in no.4,5,7,8,and 15.I think that this is one of Perlmans very best cd's even though I haven't listened to all his of his cd's I just feel that way.On some tracks on this cd Perlman pours out from the innermost being of his soul and spirit and expresses deeply.His tone is as rich and stunning as that of a cello and he blasts out those chords smashing them to their roots in the most glorious and heartfelt manner.It is obvious he really practiced his octaves because they are like one note, clean, pure, crisp,authorative,it gives you one of the highest feelings of violin mastery.Perlman is a man who comes down to our level and makes us feel better.

I've been fortunate enough to own most of the performances of Paganini's 24 Caprices for Solo Violin that are frequently mentioned as the best sets available, and for me, this cd by Itzhak Perlman from EMI's Great Recordings of the Century is the clear first choice to add to any classical music library. The playing is technically brilliant, full of passion & fire, and the recording is top notch. No other performance I've heard quite matches this one for all the elements one would want in a great compact disc of these pieces. The James Ehnes offering on Telarc is stunningly played, but he lacks Perlman's artistic passion, and the recorded sound is just a bit abrasive. Midori gives a wonderful performance (a close second to this disc) as well, but she lacks, to a very small degree, Perlman's fire. Salvatore Accardo is legendary in the Paganini caprices, but I find the sound of his DG recording to lack the pristine brilliance of this Perlman set from EMI. When I carefully consider all the angles in recommending a fine performance of Niccolo Paganini's 24 Caprices for Solo Violin, I always find myself returning to this Izhak Pelman release. If I could only own one disc of these spellbinding violin works, this would be the one I would keep.