Accardo Plays Paganini Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		0.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Accardo Plays Paganini Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 27, 2018

It’s perhaps one of the crueler ironies of classical music that for even those who consider themselves relatively well versed in the various nooks and crannies of what some may term a high falutin’ idiom, the name of Niccolò Paganini may have the most resonance not for any of Paganini’s own music, but for the “treatments” of it, as exemplified by such pieces as Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini or Brahms’ Variations on a Theme of Paganini (it’s notable that both of these famous pieces are actually based on the same Caprice written by Paganini). Paganini’s virtuosity with various string instruments is remembered to this day, at least for those who have attempted to follow in his instrumental footsteps, but the man’s actual compositional efforts are often largely forgotten, at least in terms of some of his larger scale orchestral offerings. Paganini also lent his name to a celebrated competition which was won by Salvatore Accardo (when he was still a teenager), and Accardo quickly became one of the more reliable interpreters and celebrators himself of Paganini’s compositional output. Deutsche Grammophon has now assembled all of Accardo’s recordings of Paganini’s output for that label in a handsomely packaged set that includes five violin concertos (six, if you include a posthumous outing), the 24 Capricci, and an assortment of “smaller” items.

There are two competing elements at play when listening to any given Paganini piece — the overall compositional approach, which is never less than workmanlike if also rarely reaching what some may feel are truly inspirational heights; and the string writing, which is just as undeniably awe inspiring as (again some may argue) the surrounding musical material is not. Therefore, a completely well fashioned violin concerto may not have any orchestral moments that completely overwhelm, while the violin interstitial moments, not to mention capstones like cadenzas, are almost inerrantly amazing.

This release contains the following Paganini compositions:

Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major, op. 6

Violin Concerto No. 2 in B minor "La campanella" op. 7

Violin Concerto No. 3 in E major

Violin Concerto No. 4 in D minor

Violin Concerto No. 5 in A minor

La primavera

Maestosa sonata seintimentale

Violin Concerto (No. 6) in E minor op. post.

Sonata con variazioni

Non piu mesta accanto al fuoco

Le streghe op. 8

24 Capricci op. 1

Sonata Napoleone

I palpiti

Perpetuela

Nei cor piu non mi sento

Duo merveille

Introduction and Variations on "God Save the King" op. 9

Accardo Plays Paganini Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

There's no real video element here, other than a static menu that offers track listings. The static menu is just a little hard to navigate, given the huge number of tracks on the audio Blu-ray. Depending on how you go about dealing with the data on the screen, you can access tracks by number or name. All track numbers are on the main screen, while the track names require some scrolling.

Accardo Plays Paganini Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Accardo Plays Paganini: Complete Recordings is presented on audio Blu-ray courtesy of Deutsche Grammophon with a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track (the data on the cover of this release actually advertises LPCM and Dolby TrueHD tracks, but I sure couldn't find them). The string sounds here are typically bright without ever sounding brittle, and the assembled orchestral masses of the London Philharmonic under the baton of Charles Dutoit sound full bodied and warm. Paganini's orchestrations don't ever really push any stylistic boundaries, and his compositional approach is solid if never that showy for the actual orchestra, leaving the "flash" for the soloist. Accardo easily steps up to the plate throughout both the orchestral pieces as well as the smaller scale works included here, and fidelity is excellent across the board, with the traditional Deutsche Grammophon excellence and natural hall acoustics.

Update: My apologies, in reviewing two audio Blu-ray discs today, I inadvertently copied and pasted info from my review of Parsifal here (partially due to the incorrect specs listed on the product). I've corrected this review.

Accardo Plays Paganini Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

While there no on disc supplements, this is a very handsomely packaged set from Deutsche Grammophon, with a hardback volume enclosed in a slipbox which contains reproductions of all the original Deutsche Grammophon LP covers holding the CDs, along with good essays on the pieces included.

Accardo Plays Paganini Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I know this may sound a bit churlish, especially given my opening statement about how lesser remembered some of Paganini's compositional output may be these days, but Paganini's overall musical language only intermittently tends to deeply move or even involve me. It's the quicksilver string writing that repeatedly ups the excitement ante, at least for my particular ears, and the good news is this remarkable set of recordings contains that element in abundance, played with verve and flair by one of the preeminent interpreters of Paganini. As is customary for Deutsche Grammophon releases, audio quality is first rate, and for fans of amazing string writing and playing, Accardo Plays Paganini: Complete Recordings comes Recommended.