Product Overview
Alfredo Campoli - The Bel Canto Violin (21Cd Box Set)(Cd Set)
From shellac to stereo, for the first time and newly remastered, the complete Decca and L’Oiseau-Lyre recordings (from 1931 to 1978) of Alfredo Campoli, including unpublished tracks and the classical 78s (newly remastered by Mark Obert-Thorn).
LIMITED EDITION
MORE INFORMATION
Born into a family of professional musicians in 1906, Campoli rapidly took to the violin, and before he turned eighteen, he was already secure in eleven major concertos. He subsequently toured with celebrated singers of the day including Nellie Melba and Clara Butt, before turning his attention to light music. During the 1930s he became a household name in the UK, known simply as ‘Campoli’, for his many recordings and broadcasts, especially with his Salon Orchestra.
Campoli’s impeccable technique and showman’s instincts were combined with a rare purity of tone and beauty of phrasing, often likened to bel canto singing. He began recording for Decca in 1931, and these 78rpm discs have rarely been issued since, but they present the violinist on typically characterful form, in miniatures and arrangements which capture the essence of romantic violin-playing. Several tracks previously unpublished on Decca from a session in June 1940 include transcriptions of Chopin, Grainger and Stephen Foster, where Campoli turns on the charm in quintessential style.
Decca captured the full range of Campoli’s musicianship, from salon-orchestra serenades and Baroque-era sonatas to the first recording of the concerto which Sir Arthur Bliss wrote for him. He brought a special warmth and unmannered pathos to the Violin Concerto by Elgar, under the baton of Sir Adrian Boult in 1954, which stands out as a highlight of his legacy on record.
A larger-than-life figure, keen on tennis and bridge and usually sporting a large cigar, Campoli continued to record for Decca during the LP and stereo eras, his technique undimmed by age. At the age of 73, he returned to the studio for the L’Oiseau-Lyre label, recording an album of Wieniawski which brought his career on record full circle, back to the virtuoso and popular repertoire that had made his name.
This Eloquence set presents Campoli’s legacy in largely chronological order, restoring the original LP couplings, and presenting for the first time on CD stereo versions of Saint-Saëns’s Violin Concerto No. 3, the Kreisler/Paganini Violin Concerto No. 1 and pieces by Sarasate and Wieniawski. The remastering engineer Mark Obert-Thorn contributes a note focusing on the violinist’s early recordings on 78rpm. First-issue covers and many rare photographs are complemented by a new and illuminating essay by Andrew Dalton, who recalls Campoli in concert in the early 1960s: ‘I was instantly captivated, for a Campoli performance was never routine’.
These recordings contain new remasterings from original sources and original jackets. LIMITED EDITION.
TRACK LIST
CD 1
The Decca 78s – Music by Albéniz, Drigo, Kreisler, Elgar, Bazzini, Lehár, Paderewski, Mozskowski, et.al.
Harold Pedlar, piano
Sidney Crooke, piano
Alfredo Campoli Trio
FIRST CD RELEASE ON DECCA
CD 2
The Decca 78s – Music by Handel, Monti, Kreisler, Hubay, Hahn, Raff, Chopin, Foster, Grainger, Gossec, et.al.
Sidney Crooke, piano
Welbeck Light String Quartet
FIRST CD RELEASE ON DECCA
CD 3
The Decca 78s – Music by Heykens, Kálmán, J. Strauss II, Waldteufel, Offenbach, Poldini, Fibich, et.al.
Alfredo Campoli and the Dorchester Hotel Orchestra
Alfredo Campoli and his Salon Orchestra
FIRST CD RELEASE ON DECCA
CD 4
The Decca 78s – Music by Puccini, Herbert, Elgar, Rubinstein, Mendelssohn, Coates, Raff, et.al.
Alfredo Campoli and his Salon Orchestra
Alfredo Campoli and his Grand Orchestra
Alfredo Campoli and his Concert Orchestra
FIRST CD RELEASE ON DECCA
CD 5
TARTINI Violin Sonata, Op. 1 No. 10 ‘Didone abbandonata’
J.S. BACH Arioso (from Keyboard Concerto, BWV 1056)
PAGANINI/KREISLER Caprices, Op. 1 Nos. 13 & 20; La Campanella
J.S. BACH Air (Orchestral Suite No. 3)
KREISLER/PAGANINI Concerto in one movement
CORELLI Violin Sonata, Op. 5 No. 12 ‘La Folia’
Eric Gritton, piano
National Symphony Orchestra / Victor Olof
FIRST CD RELEASE ON DECCA
CD 6
J.S. BACH Partita No. 2
TARTINI Violin Sonata in G minor ‘The Devil’s Trill’*
Music by Bazzini, Hubay, Hummel, Debussy and Corelli*
Eric Gritton, piano
*FIRST CD RELEASE ON DECCA
CD 7
MENDELSSOHN Violin Concerto in E minor
Music by Poulenc, Albéniz, Tartini, Ravel, Brahms, Massenet, Chopin, Mozart*
London Philharmonic Orchestra / Eduard van Beinum
Eric Gritton, piano
*FIRST CD RELEASE ON DECCA
CD 8
BEETHOVEN Violin Concerto
Josef Krips
CD 9
HANDEL Violin Sonatas
George Malcolm
CD 10
LALO Symphonie espagnole
SAINT-SAËNS Havanaise; Introduction et Rondo capriccioso
Eduard van Beinum; Anatole Fistoulari
CD 11
Campoli Encores – Music by Dohnányi, Paganini, Fibich, Ponce, Drdla, Fiocco, Heuberger, Mendelssohn, et.al.
George Malcolm; Eric Gritton
CD 12
Homage to Fritz Kreisler
Eric Gritton
CD 13
ELGAR Violin Concerto
Adrian Boult
CD 14
TARTINI Violin Sonatas – ‘Devil’s Trill’ & ‘Didone abbandonata’
BRUCH Violin Concerto No. 1
George Malcolm; Royalton Kisch
CD 15
BLISS Violin Concerto
Theme and Cadenza
Arthur Bliss
CD 16
SAINT-SAËNS Violin Concerto No. 3
KREISLER/PAGANINI Concerto in one movement
WIENIAWSKI Légende
SARASATE Zigeunerweisen
Piero Gamba
FIRST CD RELEASE IN STEREO
CD 17
TCHAIKOVSKY Violin Concerto
Swan Lake (dances)
Ataúlfo Argenta; Anatole Fistoulari
CD 18
MENDELSSOHN Violin Concerto
BRUCH Scottish Fantasy
Adrian Boult
CD 19
Campoli Encores – Music by Albéniz, Bazzini, Brahms, Yamada, Paganini/Kreisler, Mozart
Norihiko Wada
CD 20
SARASATE Danzas españolas; Navarra
Daphne Ibbott
CD 21
WIENIAWSKI Music for Violin & Piano
Daphne Ibbott
Alfredo Campoli, violin
