Mischa Elma plays his own arrangement of Paganini's 24th Caprice. During the earlier half of the 20th century he was considered amongst the top echelon of violinists, and so it was sad to find that London's Oxford Street HMV store had not a single CD of him when I browsed there recently. They stock a fairly large number of violin CDs and if you are looking for Andre Rieu, for example, you would be spoilt for choice (and if you happen to be a fan of Mr Rieu then my YouTube channel is not for you so go away!). Anyway, please enjoy this upload, taken from a rare Victor LP and never since reissued as far as I know.
really terrible, that it is so hard to find Elman Cd's and so damn easy to find Mr. Rieu's!
Elman's rendition of the Wieniawski Polonaise has become after repeated listening one of my 'all time favourites'. In this Paganini recording here, his own variation in harmonic's is unbelievable in its tonal beauty and very moving. This is for example a specialized area that nobody, even Heifetz, could not have done with better results.
mudidopolos 9 months ago
This is a fantastic piece and very interesting to hear. Modern violin playing has become so focused on playing music, "as it was intended," that it often forgets to allow for such interpretations and arrangements of these great works (like Kreisler's Paganini concerto in one movement). A very unique interpretation of Paganini and while not as good as the Auer arrangement to me, I definitely enjoyed it! :D
masael255 9 months ago
Mozart? Sonata 40? Maybe? :)
violin031 10 months ago
Thanks!
violin031 10 months ago
Elman's sense of intonation is remarkable. Not in the sense that he can give a computer's accuracy competition, like today's players, but in the way he always finds the right mix of 'musically leading' inflections and harmonically stable (with the piano) notes. Please, if you have any more Elman records, share them. Without youtube postings or CD reissues the younger generation (like myself) will never be able to hear him.
violinjon 11 months ago