The Art of Campoli Vol.01-03 (3 CD, FLAC)

Performer: Alfredo Campoli
Audio CD
Number of Discs: 3
Format: FLAC (image+cue)
Label: Beluah
Size: 769 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes

Vol.01
Mendelssohn – Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in E minor op.64
Alfredo Campoli
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Eduard van Beinum

Elgar – Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in B minor op.61
Alfredo Campoli
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Sir Ardian Boult

Vol.02
Beethoven – Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D op.61
Alfredo Campoli
London Symphony Orchestra
Josef Krips

Tchaikovasky – Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major op.36
Alfredo Campoli
London Symphony Orchestra
Ataulfo Agrenta

Vol.03
Bazzini – La Ronde des lutins – Scherzo fantastique op.25
Hubay – Zephyr op.30 no.5
Alfredo Campoli
Eric Gritton

Paganini / Kreisler – Concerto in D major in one movement
Alfredo Campoli
National Symphony Orchestra
Victor Olof

Campoli’s Mendelssohn beats them all (Heifetz&Perlman, incl)

Alfredo Campoli – The Underrated Genius
Although I was born about 56 years after Campoli, his violin playing legacy survives via a few examples of his art on Compact Disc. I have played the violin for about 30 years now and have collected violin recordings for about 20 years.
One of my very favourite violin recordings is his version of Mendelssohn’s E minor Concerto Op.64. I nearly passed over this fantastic CD (the Pickwick version) but now have 2 other CD copies of another mastering (BEULAH 1PD10). I have a vast recording collection of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto.
In my opinion, there is no finer version of this concerto on records or CD. My collection includes Yehudi Menuhin, Jascha Heifetz, Henryk Szeryng, Itzhak Perlman, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Ruggiero Ricci, Maxim Vengerov, Sarah Chang, Johanna Martzy, Michel Schwalbe, Michael Rabin, Aaron Rosand and Gioconda de Vito.
For me, Campoli’s version is ideal due to the technical security of his playing, sweet tone, narrow and fast vibrato and seamless transitions of tempo between various sections of the concerto. He also captures the mood of the whole piece perfectly – young, refreshing and innocent in the 1st. movement with delightful touches of glissando; a flowing (but not over-dramatic development section) for the 2nd. movement and an elfin lightness of touch and spiccato bowing (that epitomizes Mendelssohn’s earlier inspirational Midsummer Night’s Dream music) and carefree spirit for the 3rd. movement.
Listening to the fantastic way he reaches for the highest E at the end of the 3rd. movement always gives me goose-bumps and I feel really great when I hear this interpretation. The other important point about Campoli’s playing is that he never forces his tone, as some of today’s modern players tend to do.
DON’T EVER PASS OVER this disc, as I nearly did. You will definitely regret it if you do. 5 STARS does not do justice to this disc – it should be 50 STARS !!!!!