NI 2529
Total Playing Time
4 hours 10 minutes
DDD Stereo

Kreisler Violin Music


Oscar Shumsky, Violin. Milton Kaye & William Wolfran, Piano

Oscar Shumsky as heard in the present set ranks in a league of his own. Hailed by David Oistrakh as "one of the world's greatest violinists", Shumsky studied with the famed pedagogue Leopold Auer until the late 1920s. He then continued his studies with Efrem Zimbalist at the Curtis Institute until 1938. He has been regarded as arguably "the greatest violin talent ever to enter Curtis." He developed a generous and firm tone, faultless intonation and a facility with technical skills. To these can be added a certain 'musical sizzle' that later contributed to his signature 'Shumsky Sound'. He enjoyed enormous esteem among discriminating music lovers and professionals alike. His cycles of Bach Sonatas and Partitas and Mozart Violin Sonatas remained highly treasured by connoisseurs. One can readily pinpoint and appreciate the qualities that mark Shumsky out as, arguably, the greatest violinist of the 20th century: strong technique, warm tone, and sterling musicianship. These are skilfully articulated on his 1715 'Duke of Cambridge' Stradivari.

This set could readily have been named "Homage to Fritz Kreisler". Here is a near complete collection of Kreisler's musical output for the string instrument. Always an imaginative colourist, Shumsky's secure technique was firmly rooted in the Russian School of Auer and Zimbalist. In the full-bodied Viennese Rhapsodic Fantasietta or in the arrangement of Tartini's "Devil's Trill Sonata", Shumsky presents a broader view of the music without sacrificing the finer points.

This four disc collection is a tribute from one great violinist to another. It is no discredit to Kaye or Wolfram that the focus remains overwhelmingly on Shumsky throughout. Again and again these recordings assert his right to stand in the "Hall of Fame" alongside so many other violin legends.
Patrick P.L. Lam, MusicWeb-International

















UPC: 710357252921, £ 19.56 plus postage and packing
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