Accardo Plays Paganini Complete Recordings London Philharmonic Orchestra Charles Dutoit

6 CD remastered original recordings

1 High fidelity Blue Ray disc. This disc will not play in a CD or DVD player.

All discs have been checked and are in very good condition.

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Reviews

Magnificent

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 March 2019

This is another Universal/DG deluxe set, although it may not be the most important thing to consider when buying music the packaging really is rather special. There is a stout outer case, inside is a hardback book style of disc holder, the discs are held in card slip cases in the form of pages, each of which has the original LP cover art, along with a booklet with essays on the music. The impression is of an extremely professionally designed premium product. I think Universal are squeezing a few more sales from physical media before the market goes over to all downloads and streaming. The set includes 6 CDs plus a blu-ray audio disc with the same material upsampled to 96KHz/24 Bit.

The set provides the full cycle of Paganini recorded by Salvatore Accardo with the London Philharmonic conducted by Charles Dutoit, a legendary set of recordings. Despite the age (the recordings date to the 1970's), recording quality is very good and it does not feel lo-fi. My honest opinion is that even if recordings are made in high resolution (i.e., recorded at very high sample rates and bit depth) there is no real audible benefit compared to red book CD standard 44.1/16, and I really see no point in upsampling old analogue recordings as it just becomes a lot of zeros. However, having the additional blu-ray doesn't do any harm and it does have the advantage that if playing from disc and not ripped files from a hard disc then you have the complete set on a single disc.

Paganini is probably most famous for the stories of his virtuosity and the life he led, with all sorts of legends around him but he was a very accomplished composer and his 24 caprices are genuinely iconic (if you think you have never listened to Paganini then think again, you will almost certainly recognise the caprices). His music is very accessible and it is the sort of music that people who are still developing their taste in music can listen to and enjoy. The music is recognised as offering violinists an opportunity to shine and display their virtuosity, it is also recognised as challenging to play well and music which is notorious for separating the truly great violinists from the merely very good. Paganini was the most famous violinist og his age and this music was written to showcase his brilliance, the orchestra is very much playing second fiddle (pun intended) here. Accardo is fully up to the task, he has the necessary technical skill to play these pieces extremely well, yet these are actually very musical performances. The pitfall for performances of Paganini's works are that they sometimes either become a bit of a showing off display of technical brilliance but lacking emotion and musicality, or it has the musicality and emotion but without the necessary technical skill it falls flat. Accardo has both the requisite technical virtuosity and also the artistic sensibility. His playing does not feel forced, or flashy, or a display of technical grandstanding, it just feels wonderfully natural and musical. Although the orchestra is not the prime attraction the London Philharmonic and Dutoit do their job very well indeed.

Wonderful music wonderfully performed by a true master well supported by a fine orchestra and conductor, well recorded and beautifully packed, it really is a terrific set. You can still buy the set on a regular CD release from DG, and in all honesty if you don't need the premium packaging and blu ray then that is normally the set to buy.

Just a stunning set of performances of breathtaking music.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 January 2022

This is the perfect match of composition and execution. I cannot rate or recommend this collection highly enough.

Supreme virtuosity

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 May 2013

Let me cut to the chase, these pieces of violin music are played by a violinist who CAN play them and there are a few that can or, that are prepared to attempt them, the virtuosity displayed is breathtaking and phenomenal.

Paganini is, I am afraid a victim of his own success because of the difficulty of these pieces and the lack of recordings they are seldom played and therefore are not popular which is a shame because people will stick to what they know and not try something different. My wife who is not a great listener of classical music sites this amongst her favourites. Accardo ranks amongst the greatest violinists ever alongside HEIFITZ, who I have to say was not brave enough to attempt but a few of these inspirational pieces.

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 March 2018

The best performance ever! Best Paganini from best duo Accardo and Dutoit! Absolutely perfect edition.

Wonderful!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 December 2017

This is what I expected. Wonderful!