036 CD / What about this, Mr. Paganini?
Description
On 28th December 1995 seven violins, selected instruments created by the world′s most famous violin makers, met for a high-class competition. "Who is the fairest in the land?" That was and is the question...
"An audiophile feast" (Stereoplay)
3 reviews for 036 CD / What about this, Mr. Paganini?
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Audiophile Audition –
This recording is another one of those "gimmick" discs that Tacet is constantly throwing our way, with the end result being some seriously good listening for everyone. The concept here has the violinist, Saschko Gawriloff, playing seven different violins, of different vintages, in a kind of "show-down." All seven violins are used to play the Sarabande movement from Bach′s Partita No. 2 in D, and then several of the individual violins are used for a variety of pieces including works from Veracini, Kreisler, Dvorak, Paganini and Webern. It′s much more than just an exercise, hearing the seven instruments back-to-back playing Bach, and really interesting how very different they all do sound, indeed!
The remaining tracks are all accompanied by Kira Ratner on piano, and all tracks are recorded using vintage tube microphones. The sound quality is uniformly superb, regardless of which layer you choose to listen to, though the SACD tracks get my nod for best overall sound. As with the Bach disc above, the multichannel layer uses the surround channels for additional ambience, which does help provide an improved perception of image depth. The supplied booklet has numerous photos, along with a brief history of each violin′s maker. So which of the seven violins is the big winner? That′s hard to say – they all have their own uniquely impressive musical qualities – but I don′t think it′s a coincidence that soloist Saschko Gawriloff chose three of the Cremona violins for use in three of the five additional works found on the disc. Whether the Guarneri, Stradivari or Amati was in use, each sang with a beauty and purity of tone that was just unmatched by the rest of the competition. Maybe there was something in the water, or the soil that the trees grew in that provided the wood for these incredible instruments – whatever, nothing in modern times comes even close. Highly recommended.
Tom Gibbs
Stuttgarter Zeitung –
Heaven—what a fantastic day it must have been when violinist Saschko Gawriloff got to hold seven beauties in his arms, one after another: Amati, Guadagnini, A. Guarneri, P. Guarneri, Horváth, Stradivari, and Vuillaume. Seven violins—and Gawriloff in seventh heaven seven times over with the Sarabande from the Partita in D Minor, BWV 1004. If anyone thinks this repetition might get boring, they’re sorely mistaken. By track seven, your finger is already reaching for the remote. Da capo, please!
miw
MDR Kultur –
The company TACET continually delights us by failing to live up to its name—which, in English, means "he, she, it remains silent"—and, fortunately, does anything but stay quiet. Quite the opposite. What we hear from this label is never poorly conceived, rarely less than first-class in musicianship, always excellently recorded in terms of sound engineering, and often extraordinarily surprising in its programming. … Especially in this case, as violinist Saschko Gawriloff performs identical excerpts from Bach’s Partita in D Minor for solo violin (BWV 1004) on seven different instruments in tracks 1 through 7, offering listeners a fascinating and highly interesting listening comparison.
David Denton