Reviews | RH-029 | AARON ROSAND | in memoriam
July 2025 | Christoph Schlüren | FONO FORUM - 07/25 p.66 | Rhine Classics' Historical Anthologies [...] Otherwise, there are, of course, other great violinists to whom Pessina's loving dedication (in collaboration with Gary Lemco during the US excavations) is directed. [...] And then there's Aaron Rosand (1927-2019), the former master student of Efrem Zimbalist, who, even into his old age, enchanted the world with a Romantic-style violin playing that seemed to transport us back to a bygone era: his magnificent performances of Joseph Joachim's Concerto 'in the Hungarian Style,' Wieniawski's Second Concerto, and Paganini's First Concerto! He performed Prokofiev's Second Concerto with Peter Maag in 1988, fervently, as well as Handel's Sonata in G minor (measured in the 'old style') and Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata, along with the many miniatures, including some Heifetz transcriptions. What also emerges repeatedly from Gary Lemco's competent liner notes is the conniving role played by the powerful player Isaac Stern in thwarting the careers of many outstanding musicians. Perhaps this explains a lot?
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 2 February 2025 | Jean-Charles Hoffelé | ARTAMAG' - Focus - Le disque du jour | VIRTUOSES RETROUVÉS http://www.artalinna.com/2025/02/02/virtuoses-retrouves/The hidden treasure of the American violin? Aaron Rosand would be virtually forgotten today, having entered purgatory since his death on July 9, 2019, and even a few years before, despite an extensive discography filled with rarities. Of all the violinists of his time, he had the most extensive repertoire, from Bach to his contemporaries. Yet his flamboyant art, which never feared sacrificing brilliance and espressivo to a few risks that such hoary virtuosos prudently avoided, will remain inseparable from the Romantic repertoire. At least, that's what we believe, something this beautiful and useful box set somewhat contradicts. Aaron Rosand played Paul Kochanski's Guarneri del Gesù, his winged sound and warm midrange magnifying a fabulous Second Prokofiev Concerto for RAI in Rome under the impeccable baton of Peter Maag (what a shame we don't have the First here, composed for the Polish virtuoso), an absolute gem in a fatally mixed ensemble from the 1970s – the touch is then of dazzling accuracy. Listen to the Joachim Concerto, a rarity at the time, in the early years of the 21st century: at over 70, Ravel's Tzigane, the transcriptions of Heifetz, his avowed model, are bewitching but also moving, despite a less sure bow. The collection is prodigious, documenting, in the heat of the concert, all the facets of this art form that is now forbidden to be forgotten. Rhine Classics has rescued here some precious documents, such as this First Concerto by Paganini conducted by Herbert Blomstedt in Minneapolis. But start with the musician: Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata, recorded in concert in Tokyo in June 1983. |
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21 November 2024 | Stephen Greenbank | MusicWeb International
A worthy release of outstanding playing [SG] https://musicwebinternational.com/2024/11/aaron-rosand-violin-in-memoriam-rhine-classics-2/ |
 
10 October 2024 | Jonathan Woolf | MusicWeb International The vibrant, alluring art of arch-Romanticist, Aaron Rosand [JW] https://musicwebinternational.com/2024/10/aaron-rosand-violin-in-memoriam-rhine-classics/ |
 Violin aficionados will likely be aware of Aaron Rosand (1927-2019), whose many distinctive recordings include rarities such as Joachim’s Second Concerto in D minor ‘In the Hungarian Style’, which also turns up in Rhine Classics’ highly desirable live ‘In memoriam’ Rosand Collection, recorded in 1974 under Leo Driehuys. [...] 
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 Septembre 2024 | Jean-Michel Molkhou | "Talents oubliés" | CLASSICA n°265 p.89 | ROSAND [CHOC - Exceptionnel].
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