(2022) Fenella Humphreys - Caprices  


Review:
On this Rubicon Classics release, violinist Fenella Humphreys offers a kind of program that few or no others have tried. She plays caprices, mixing items from the classic crowd-pleasing era of the genre with contemporary virtuoso examples. Paganini appears several times, and Fritz Kreisler is also represented. Among the contemporary works, most were commissioned by Humphreys and here receive their premieres. Humphreys’ concept is worthwhile in itself; one is tempted to say that if more musicians had cultivated contemporary music with links to the past, the whole scene would be healthier than it is, but it is Humphreys’ execution of the idea that really impresses. Hearing an hour and a quarter of solo violin music here is simply not an issue as regards tedium. Most of her new music is British, but she includes a Caprice No. 1 from the American country-classical violinist Mark O’Connor, and the styles range from modernist to folkish (at the end, for a wonderful conclusion). For the climax, everything is tied together in a set of variations on the theme from Paganini’s Caprice No. 24 in A minor (which also appears in full elsewhere). Each variation is by a different composer, forcing that composer to distill their style down to a 30-second soundbite, further restricted by the parameters of the Paganini theme. The results are delightful: sample the variation by Héloïse Werner for an idea! There are larger multi-movement pieces by Tom Coult and Oliver Leith, and these too are attractive. A triumphant release from Humphreys.


         


Track List:
01. Coult 4: Études: I. Liberamente, con bravura
02. Coult 4: Études II:. Meccanico
03. Coult 4: Études: III. Strident
04. Coult 4: Études: IV. Serene, spacious
05. Paganini: 24 Caprices for Solo Violin, Op. 1: No 9 in E Major, 'La Chasse'. Allegretto
06. Bacewicz: Four Caprices: No. 2
07. Waley-Cohen: Caffeine
08. Paganini: 24 Caprices for Solo Violin, Op. 1 No 24 in A Minor. Tema con variazioni. Quasi presto
09. Leit:h Goat Head: I. Crochet equals 68, feel a faster underlying pulse
10. Leith: Goat Head: II. Crochet equals 60, this is a haze
11. Leith: Goat Head: III. Crochet equals 130 like whistling squiggles in the air, loose
12. Kreisler: Recitativo and Scherzo-Caprice, Op. 6
13. Panufnik: Hora Bessarabia
14. Osborn: Rendering Error
15. O'Connor: Caprice No. 1
16. Paganini: Variations on Paganini's Caprice No. 24 in A Minor Tema con variazioni. Quasi presto
17. Patterson: Variations on Paganini's Caprice No. 24 in A Minor: Fenella Caprice. Vivace
18. Reid: Variations on Paganini's Caprice No. 24 in A Minor: Variation for Fenella. Fierce
19. Howard: Variations on Paganini's Caprice No. 24 in A Minor: Lockdown
20. Beamish: Variations on Paganini's Caprice No. 24 in A Minor: Paganini Variation
21. MacRae: Variations on Paganini's Caprice No. 24 in A Minor: Variation on Caprice 24
22. Sutton: Variations on Paganini's Caprice No. 24 in A Minor: Pagvar
23. Harwood: Variations on Paganini's Caprice No. 24 in A Minor: Never Forget
24. Hellawell: Variations on Paganini's Caprice No. 24 in A Minor: Senza Misura
25. Joslin: Variations on Paganini's Caprice No. 24 in A Minor: Paganini Cut-Up
26. Haigh: Variations on Paganini's Caprice No. 24 in A Minor: Samoyed Paganini
27. Werner: Variations on Paganini's Caprice No. 24 in A Minor: Variation for Fenella. Cheeky and Excited (Like a child)
28. Aitken: Variations on Paganini's Caprice No. 24 in A Minor: Gypsy Jazz
29. Paganini: 24 Caprices for Solo Violin, Op. 1: No 13 in B-Flat Major, 'The Devil's Laughter'. Allegro
30. Wallen: For Airi
31. Aitken: Glasgow Reel Set


Media Report:
Genre: classical
Country: UK
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits


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