George Enescu plays Chausson Poeme (Part 1)

[ydraki]

Such lyricism I have never heard before. He busts the upper limits of human sensitivity. Enescu is superb!

[martinlass]

Regarding Enescu's softer, gentler approach to this piece than we are used to from more modern players, one also has to remember that he was probably still using gut strings, i.e. not wound with metal, so could not push the sound too hard, nor did he wish to, I'm sure... a different world back then... more concerned with the inner content of the music rather than the outward spectacle or with overly exciting the senses for its own sake.

[lovesGenet]

enescu is a inner vein arist. The first line says it all. Very soulful. I wouldn't compare this to anyone else cuz his attainments are diff. Soulful as hell though -really!

[graverol1]

Pureté, simplicité, profondeur.... bref authenticité exprimée dans une magnifique sonorité!!!!

[valdengo1]

..after 40 years of hearing Oistrakh, Heifetz, Milstein, Chung etc......this seems a little slow and mannered...lacks intensity I found in other recordings...yet, I want to be able to listen to this....nonetheless, I do like this version, too......

[aimson]

@valdengo1 Yes, this has been an issue for me as well. Growing up on Heifetz, most other great violinists (Oistrakh, Perlman, Grumiaux, Stern, etc.) sounded bland to me most of the time. In fact, they still do. The same used to be true when I listened to Enescu, Elman, and Neveu. However, after listening to more of these violinists, my views changed and I love listening to them. My advice is to try attuning your ears to these three violinists and your views will eventually change for the better.

[rembrandt21000]

@aimson omg its enescU

[TheFeldenkraisMethod]

I have this recording and all the other of Enescu, but hearing it here, on Youtube, it sound even more impressive. It is just out of this world and any comment is futile!!!!

[TheInana]

What a great souuuuuuund!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:­-)

[TheAssasin951]

i play it also with piano!!!!

[kamishichan]

merci.

[lorelei337]

this was most probably recorded in 1929 by Columbia Records. the pianist is S. Schlussel

[alianse1234]

How old was Enescu when he recorded it?

[operamark1]

@alianse1234 About 48 years old, if this is the 1929 recording. Born in 1981.

[closetviolinist]

Absolutely shattering. I'm in a million pieces all over the floor.

The pianist also deserves rave reviews.

[BluexSkiesxForever]

song is Poeme

composed by Chausson

favorite~~!! <3

[DHcello]

Who compesd this song?

[SusceptorNebulae]

The correct name is George Enescu; this is his real, romanian name.

[Garnet826]

I really appreciate your uploading of this great masterpiece played by Enescu...

thank you so much!

[TuLithu]

Thank you for uploading this wonderful rare recording. I had never heard Enesco's playing until now, and I've been playing the violin since 1975.

[jonorulz]

Is this a composition by enescu?

[tobiasundry]

nope

[jonorulz]

hehe, i found that out a while ago...I didn't realise Chausson was the composers name :P

[jaschenski]

It's as though he's playing it just for himself, like a sort of therapy. Nowadays everyone knows what the "bog standard" way to play this is, but this is so individual - never "I can do it" but "Can I do it?"

[ydraki]

@jaschenski Totally agree with keen observation. Enescu does make Poeme his own, embedding it as close to his soul as possible, flying with it but never disturbs the original intent of Shausson. Therein lies the greatness of Enescu, the great ARTST and teacher.

[ydraki]

@ydraki Correction to read: with YOUR keen....

[OriginalMoonbeam]

this is just beautiful! Having worked in a recording studio I appreciate how digital recording has changed expectations from a muscian of today as well. An small error had to be accepted on recordings for the sake of sheer economy. It can now be digitally altered with the flick of a switch..EASILY digitally tuned or the musician can have endless chances for a retake. So much can be rectified in the studio that simply could back in the days of the LP.

[lolmanerik]

best

[warwurm21]

Magic. It make my cry each time I hear it. I think this is perfectly in tone and each note and intention is controled by Enescu. One of the best interpretation ever. Thanks for sharing.

[KimViolinee]

This is such a sensitive, moving interpretation. I have chills all over. Infinitely more powerful without overuse of heavy, power-driven playing. This is soaring, deep, wonderful in every regard.

[marcelgrig]

Cea mai bunä variantä pe care am auzito pinä acum 10.12.2007 Marcel

[StrivetobeDust]

Menuhin admitted in the art of violin that he could not reproduce the beauty of Enescu's slides. This recording contains several wonderful examples.

[orlist]

this is for certain the best poem i'v heard;he makes music using slides and also by intonation(like casals or gitlis)he has some notes out of tune but only God is perfect

[sababa123]

Who is the pianist?

[ziriyab]

What a privilege to be able to hear this! Thank you so much for posting!

[abburidotakaria]

I didn't like it that much... The tempo varied way too much (much more than other recordings), and much of the intonation is questionable. He tends to concentrate on individual notes, and often the whole phrase is lost in doing so...

[longtalker]

I agree. For some strange reason, for me personally, the newer an interpretation is, the more I am often likely to appreciate it. Hard as I might try, I simply cannot sincerely say that I enjoy the recordings of great early 20th century violinists such as Enescu or Heifetz (one notable exception is Oistrakh). Generally I resonate much more to the playing styles of, for instance, Frank Peter Zimmermann or Gidon Kremer. I wish I knew the reason for this...

[ilyalushtak]

don't make me say

[nsimington]

It's also worth remembering that a) Enescu's intonation was damaged late in life by a botched ear surgery b) he hated recording, so this piece is "live" not "studio" c) his phrasing is one of the things justifying mankind's continuing existence to God. :)

[aimson]

I'm sure this will rile up some of the community fanboys but I would add: d) a greater musician (but not violinist) than his most famous student, Menuhin. I have the recording of the Bach double concerto played by teacher and student and it is clear there is only one musician that stands out.

[nsimington]

Of course, it's worth remembering that Enescu was not primarily a violinist but a composer and a conductor. He could never quite get away from the violin because that was how he paid for Maruca's champagne :(

[AbsoluteZ3R0]

The one disadvantage of being a child prodigy is that unlike normal-born musicians (like David Oistrakh and maybe Enesco, i don't really know much about him), they have to work much harder to develop their actual musicianship, but on the other hand, technique is never a challenge for them. Anyway, could you upload your recording the Bach?

[InternetMusic]

In a David Oistrakh documentary, I heard someone say that it was good that oistrakh wasn't a prodigy because he was a true musician (I think it's on youtube).

[orlist]

enescu was a child prodigy;by the age of seven he was a student at the consevatory of viena;he started composing in the same time'if not earlier(try to find "poema romana" and listen to it-he was 16 when he wrote it)

[abburidotakaria]

well of course, Menuhin was only a student while Enescu was teacher... Of course the teacher would stand out.

[ciorch]

Enescu,marele artist al Romaniei,genial compozitor si interpret

[HeidiHo2001]

Awesome to hear the composer play it! It is different, more introspective than I've heard it. Interesting technique, it is like he has gone somewhere and he invites you to go with him. All these great violinists-none are perfect, all have something to say, and say it beautifully. Like everyone, I have my preferences, but that is what they are, just my preferences.

[elisabeth717]

What I want to say is that today the most of the violinists who perform there, on world stages...they all sound quite the same...but for example Neveu, Oistrach, Menuhin, Heifetz, Ferras...their violin sound was original...they all sounded differently...I like how Menuhin once said: "Your violin sound has to be same natural as your voice"...

[AbsoluteZ3R0]

Exactly, this is the main reason why I consider the old masters to be superior to today's violinists. Today's violinists have great technique and great tone, but that's it - hardly if any character

[elisabeth717]

yes...seems like the classical music world is brokening...Music is left behind and technique and show are the things what rule in a concert......

[AbsoluteZ3R0]

It's probably just a phase, it's up to the newer generations to bring back individuality into classical music

[elisabeth717]

maybe it's bad that we can listen to so many recordings...As we can see the other violinist, the older ones... from the last century and so...they had their own colours...They didn't have influences, what are easily getting on today's violinists. Important is the nature....your own nature...

[aimson]

This is true, but you must understand that all art is historical. Pick any art - music (any genre), painting, sculpturing, architecture, etc. - and you will always find the influence of the old onto the new. And it should be this way because greatness does not exist in a vacuum. Every violinist should be aware of the important artists before them and learn from them how to be better than them.

[lordnifield]

Hmmm, I just listened to my recording of Perlman playing it, and it's not as I remember it :\

[aimson]

Hehe, better or worse? I was listening to Perlman playing Lalo last night and I definitely thought it could have been better. He has a certain charm but pretty inconsistent if you ask me.

[abburidotakaria]

can you explain how it could have been better?

[aimson]

Perlman is inconsistent because some of his recordings can be bland or sloppy but others, like the Lalo, are really well done. I think it could have been played more delicately in many areas of all the movements,, particularly mov 2,4, & 5. Also, he has a tendency to play brutishly, too heavy, and often punches the notes, which leads to a scratchy sound (especially in the 1st & 5th). If you think I'm nitpicking, you might be right - on the whole, I think the recording is very good.

[lordnifield]

I agree, I didn't care much for Oistrakh's interpretation of this piece. Might just have been the one recording that is on here. I have an excellent recording of it performed by Perlman that I enjoy a bit more. Perlman's version is technically superior to Oistrakh's, which is not surprising to me, but I think technique shines on this piece. This interpretation is the most thoughtful I've heard though. Excellent. Thanks so much for finding a recording of Enesco playing it!

[aimson]

Glad you enjoyed it. However, I find it odd that you would describe Perlman's technique as superior to Oistrakh's. Just about everything I've heard from Perlman has been somewhat sloppy - scratches, out of tune, etc. Anyways, it shouldn't matter how "perfect" a violinist is, what matters the most is how good of a musician they are (e.g., Enesco)

[lordnifield]

I don't like Perlman's tone sometimes but I think he I think he comes closer to Heifetz's level of technical proficiency than any other violinists I've heard. I agree that musicianship makes a violinist but one of the reasons I think Heifetz was so successful is because superior technique lends to ease of musicianship. I wish musicianship could carry its own, but I think it is a valid perspective to appreciate perfection in technique as well as great musicianship.

[elizabethgutteridge]

enescu was a brilliant violinist he was the teacher of Menhuin,and a brilliant composer

[AndreiViolinist]

It is wonderfull that we can listen such a treasure.A genius playes his favourite piece...

[Bghdo]

to misterbg1, i heard once on radio oistrakh's performance, and it was AWESOME, but i cant find it now

if someone has it please let me know where i can get it or record it

thanks

[misterbg1]

those recordings are extremely rare... i hardly found it on some russian site... Juilliard store didnt have it and even some very famouse libraries didnt have it.

[phanphuc]

Who's the pianist?

[aimson]

The pianist's name is Sanford Schlussel (I've never heard of him before), recorded 1929. You can find this and a few other gems on the CD "George Enesco & Carl Flesch"

[misterbg1]

I wanna hear oistrakh play this!!!

[aimson]

Unfortunately, I only have Heifetz and Ginette Neveu playing this piece. Maybe somebody around here has Oistrakh's version, which I've never heard.

[zigeunerviolin]

I have Oistrakh playing this. Maybe I could email it to you. Heifetz's is incomparably better by the way.

[aimson]

I would love to hear Oistrakh playing this! I already have Heifetz' recording and I actually don't care for it that much. Even though it is played VERY differently (and with orchestra) compared to Enesco, I actually found it overly dramatic and lacking emotionally. Maybe because I heard Enesco playing it first and fell in love with that. Who knows... I also have Ginette Neveu playing it, I can post if anybody wants.

[misterbg1]

Please... Post it! thanks!

[AceUnlimited000]

itd be nice if you could post ginette neveu playing Chausson's Poeme.

[abburidotakaria]

please post ginette's version

[ipmoic]

@aimson

As you know, you can now hear Oistrakh--isn't YouTube grand? I was amazed at how much I like Oistrakh's interpretation--I would have guessed completely wrong.

But I come back to this always. What a shame that Menuhin was already a year into his physical issues when he finally recoreded it with Enesco conducting--a year sooner and it could have been a benchmark. Neveu, anotther Enesco student, was brilliant as was my father who played it many times in a long career.

[govibe]

there is no such thing as "better" or "worse"... It depends on individual tastes.

[zigeunerviolin]

Right... except Heifetz's is better.

[govibe]

do you have proof? Some people think joshua bell is the greatest violinist on earth, while other people think there are better violinists... How is it better? Have you heard perlman's and neveu's chausson?

[zigeunerviolin]

Calm down, I was joking. What I really meant by that was that I felt Oistrakh didn't put in as much as he could in the recording whereas Heifetz played to his full potential and it sounds like he put more attention. Also, Heifetz is my favorite. And I have heard Perlman's but not Neveu's and I like Heifetz's better than Perlman's and have heard Neveu play other things and like Heifetz much more in general.

[misterbg1]

you have the most horrible taste i ever heard of

[zigeunerviolin]

I have horrible taste because I like Heifetz? Why don't you buzz off.

[govibe]

what do you think of this enescu recording?

[govibe]

and zigeunerviolin, what do you think of this enescu recording?

[abburidotakaria]

can you please post the ginette neveu version? how does that rank?

[OistrakhMilstein]

way too slow and technically insecure in some parts. The intonation is not accurate in parts either...

[bergovitz]

what's the point in having ears if you don't have a brain to listen and understand?

[sigault]

Well, just listen to what he does in the music! Also think about the strings they used to play on at that time... His interpretation is very moving and personal, that's what's cherihable about it even if it's not technically ... perfect

[thuyviola]

its so worth for me! i'm studying on his music,thanks.

[misterbg1]

you MUST hear perlman's performance of this with the london philharmonic....now THATS some inspiration...

[thuyviola]

sorry,i meant Enesco's music. I need to know more about him for my analysis,i'm practicing Concertstuck for viola. (: