Reviews | PORTFOLIO 2024-2025

     

July 2025 | Christoph Schlüren | FONO FORUM - 07/25 p.66 | Rhine Classics' Historical Anthologies "Rediscoveries by Christine Walevska, Sergio Fiorentino, Aaron Rosand, Berl Senofsky, Cornelia Vasile, Erick Friedman and Fritz Kreisler."

Northern Italian Emilio Pessina is not only one of the best experts on historical recordings, but also the most successful treasure hunter and most brilliant remastering producer in this field, which has long been so neglected by current EU law. As artistic director of the Taiwanese label Rhine Classics, he has blessed us – circumventing EU copyright sanctions – with musically valuable anthologies by the outstanding violinists Aldo Ferraresi, Franco Gulli, Christian Ferras, Gabriella Lengyel, Wanda Luzzato, Ruggiero Ricci, Jean Ter-Menguerian, and Ivry Gitlis, the pianists Pietro Scarpini and Sergio Fiorentino (1927-98), and others, containing much that was never before accessible. 

Another Sergio Fiorentino box set has now been released, making all the albums on the Saga label (recorded 1958-60) available on CD for the first time. They have been compiled and presented by Ernst Lumpe, the leading expert on the subject and late patron of the long-forgotten pianist. Hailed by his colleague Michelangeli as "the only other pianist", Fiorentino once again, despite all the blows of fate, proves himself to be one of the most gifted pianists of the last century, brimming with musicality, with a perfectly cultivated sound and, in the most natural way and without any gimmicks, a first-class virtuoso. In addition to piano concertos by Beethoven (No. 5), Schumann, Liszt (No. 1), Tchaikovsky (No. 1) and Gershwin, he played works by, among others, all of Chopin's nocturnes, preludes and 19 waltzes, Schumann's Carnaval and a whole lot of Liszt, all with timeless classical magic and unsurpassed vitality.

For the first time, Pessina has brought a cello legend into the spotlight: the wildly romantic Christine Walevska (born 1945), a master student of the great Ennio Bolognini. I previously knew her from her Philips recordings with Eliahu Inbal from Monte Carlo in 1972/73: the two concertos and the suite by Saint-Saëns (the hypervirtuosic Second Concerto sets the standard), as well as the great concertos by Prokofiev and Khachaturian. Here, she sweeps us off our feet, brilliantly and without arbitrariness, live with maximum risk-taking, in three cello suites by Bach (young cellists may take the verve and poetry of the D minor Suite as a model), and in sonatas by Chopin, Brahms, Debussy, Prokofiev, and Pierre Sancan, Beethoven's Triple Concerto, Bloch's Schelomo, and the Dvořák Concerto. Her controlled, explosive spontaneity is absolutely worth hearing. A particular highlight is the Hindemith concerto with Dean Dixon, a select rarity by William Schuman's 'A Song of Orpheus,' where we encounter the eminent violinist Henri Temianka in 1964 as leader of the California Chamber Symphony. Her homages to Argentina should not be missed either: Piazzolla, Ginastera, and—three times—Bolognini.

Fritz Kreisler, surprisingly, can be heard as an exquisite pianist, performing ten of his delicacies (plus Heuberger, Krakauer, Winternitz, and Kramer), in New York cylinder recordings from 1919-27! This is a magnificent opportunity to study his authentic agogics and dynamic agility. And then, too, on the violin, in 1940 with the National Symphony Orchestra for the POTUS with La Gitana, Caprice viennois, and Schön Rosmarin – and with this irresistibly declamatory, singing playing, one cannot help but immediately grasp how unmistakably unique, timelessly youthful, and natural Kreisler captivated his audiences for half a century.

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. The Romanian Cornelia Vasile (1948-2010), once discovered by Deutsche Grammophon and, according to Ivry Gitlis, "better than Milstein and Szeryng combined," plays Paganini's Second Violin Concerto and seven of his Caprices live with searing fire and lyrical intimacy that is a true joy. Her social decline was a tragedy. She died impoverished in Munich.

Berl Senofsky (1926-2002), a legendary mentor in Baltimore, is represented with powerful performances of sonatas by Mendelssohn, Brahms, and Strauss, as well as, in 1959, with Shirley Trepel, a Brahms double concerto that is as daring as it is poetically dialogic.

Erick Friedman (1939-2004), Heifetz's immaculately perfect and yet independent model pupil, plays sonatas by Brahms (No. 3), Grieg (No. 2), and Prokofiev (No. 1) in a perfectly balanced manner.

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?

30 March 2025 | Jean-Charles Hoffelé | ARTAMAG' - Focus - Le disque du jour | LA RETROUVÉE

[...] Throughout the 1970s, Christine Walevska recorded a handful of LPs that revealed a remarkable temperament. I haven't forgotten her Saint-Saëns Concertos, incredibly virtuosic under the baton of Eliahu Inbal, as if exalted by the sheer energy that would also carry through an admirable Schumann Concerto. Philips had one of the major bow players of his generation, and all her recordings for the Dutch label were recently brought together in a beautiful little box set for the Japanese market. Emilio Pessina had access to the cellist's private archives: the record of two rare microgrooves ("Concerto de violoncello" released on the Brazilian label Sodira, the self-published LP "The Artistry of Christine Walevska") but above all a quantity of concert recordings which show the extent of her repertoire, from Bach to Jean Françaix, illustrating the chamber music part that Philips had ignored, preferring to focus on the virtuoso rather than the musician.

[...] perfect portrait of a major interpreter, finally rediscovered.

March 2025 | Luca Ciammarughi | Il Libero Professionista - Reloaded - N°32 p.128-129 | Recensioni CD

SERGIO FIORENTINO - THE COMPLETE SAGA ALBUM COLLECTION

Quella di Sergio Fiorentino è la storia di un pianista immenso, che, a causa di un incidente aereo e forse di un eccesso di umiltà nella gestione della propria carriera, rimase a lungo estraneo ai grandi circuiti del concertismo internazionale. Ritornato nelle grandi sale negli anno Novanta, poco prima della morte avvenuta nel 1998, il musicista napoletano è sempre più oggetto di una riscoperta che ha fatto ormai di lui una vera e propria leggenda. In questo box do 10 CD Rhine Classics, derivanti da un restauro certosino dei nastri originali degli LP SAGA, ascoltiamo Fiorentino fra la fine degli anni '50 e l'inizio dei '60, al culmine del proprio virtuosismo ma già maturo per affrontare con impressionante profondità, per esempio, l'integrale dei Nocturnes di Chopin. Vastissimo il repertorio, da Beethoven al Novecento, anche con orchestra. [LC]

21 March 2025 | Rob Cowan | GRAMOPHONE - Vol.109 April 2025 | Box-Set / Round-Up

Much that features in Rhine Classics’ set of Sergio Fiorentino’s Saga recordings (presented in facsimiles of their original LP sleeve designs) is also of interest, although I never recall seeing the complete Chopin Nocturnes – mostly taken at a broad pace and high in dramatic incident – on LP. These transfers are in the main good, although visited on occasion with residual vinyl surface noise.
Among the concertos included is Gershwin’s F major with the LPO under conductor/jazz violinist Hugo Rignold (who in his day was rated, fiddle-wise, alongside Stéphane Grappelli, Joe Venuti and Eddie South) where a second, previously unissued stereo version offers us a slow movement with different takes. Fiorentino and Rignold certainly capture the spirit of the piece, while Fiorentino goes all out to demonstrate the virtuoso elements in Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto, Liszt’s First (said to be in mono or ‘pseudo-stereo’ but clearly in crudely engineered genuine stereo), the Schumann Concerto and the Tchaikovsky First. Generally speaking, the solo works (including Chopin’s Waltzes and Preludes and much Liszt) are the most individual, performance-wise, Chopin’s second Prelude in A minor playing for an amazingly solemn 3'48" (the more ‘regular’ Maurizio Pollini on DG stretches to just 2'17"). I can’t trace a previous CD reissue of this material – certainly not a ‘Saga only’ Fiorentino collection – so we should be grateful to Rhine Classics for this well produced set.

9 March 2025 | Stephen Greenbank | MusicWeb International

A pleasure to have Fiorentino’s complete Saga Recordings under one roof [SG]

Rhine Classics must be lauded in championing the recordings, live and studio, of the Italian pianist. Their Sergio Fiorentino edition now comprises five releases. Reviews of the previous releases can be found here (review ~ review ~ review ~ review), and they are all self-recommending. In this latest offering all the discs are presented in their Original Jackets. With splendid remasterings and excellent documentation, not to mention the photographic element, this all amounts to a very recommendable package.

21 February 2025 | Rob Cowan | GRAMOPHONE - Vol.108 March 2025 | Box-Set / Round-Up

Another collection of archive CDs celebrates the considerable artistry and beautiful tone of the American cellist Christine Walevska, best known for her Philips recordings (a box, please, Eloquence?), especially of works by Saint-Saëns. The First Concerto also turns up in Rhine Classics’ Walevska collection ‘The Beauty & the Bow’, as does the Dvorák Concerto (two versions, one where we also hear Walevska interviewed by conductor André Vandernoot, the other under Carlos Païta), the Beethoven Triple with Henryk Szeryng and pianist Monique Duphil, Hindemith’s Third Concerto under Dean Dixon, William Schuman’s A Song of Orpheus with the distinguished violinist and quartet leader Henri Temianka conducting and a deeply moving account of Bloch’s Schelomo where Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt is on the rostrum. We also hear three Bach Cello Suites (Nos 1‑3), as well as duo pieces by Haydn, Brahms, Prokofiev (his Cello Sonata) and Chopin (his Introduction and Polonaise brillante). In her prime Walevska was one of those players who virtually became her instrument and I’m happy to report that in addition to some exceptional music-making, Rhine Classics’ collection is very well annotated (by Gary Lemco) and richly illustrated.

15 February 2025 | Jean-Michel Molkhou | PIANISTE N°151 - Cahier Critique / Disques

The reproduction of the original covers and a generously documented booklet will appeal to the most demanding collectors. Not to be missed!

[...] La reproduction des jaquettes originales et un livret généreusement documenté séduiront les collectioneurs les plus exigeantes. À ne pas manquer! [JMM]

9 February 2025 | Jean-Charles Hoffelé | ARTAMAG' - Focus - Le disque du jour | SAGA FIORENTINO

[...] these are the records of a young man to whom life played more than one trick, of an eminent pianist whose art was fortunately saved by a handful of admirers, and the constancy of Emilio Pessina who will have published so many of his rediscovered treasures.

30 January 2025 | Jonathan Woolf | MusicWeb International

Fiorentino’s complete Saga recordings of 1958-60 heard in excellent remasterings [JW]

16 January 2025 | Jonathan Woolf | MusicWeb International

The admirable cellist Christine Walevska traced over 50 years of performances and recordings. [JW]

[...] The broadcasts, rare LPs and other material in this box reveal a formidably equipped performer across the span of the repertoire. In those Philips discs she was paired with conductors Eliahu Inbal, Alexander Gibson, Edo de Waart and Kurt Redel for a tranche of concerto recordings, and there are a few examples of repertoire duplication – the Dvořák concerto and Schelomo for instance – but very little else. [...] an excellent performance of Pierre Sancan’s test piece Sonata of 1961. She catches precisely its taut, sullen but finally cheerful qualities. Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations are heard with the piano accompaniment of Robert Parris – lyrically impressive and dextrous. There’s also the first exposure of her playing of Bolognini’s Serenata del Gaucho (there are four altogether throughout the box), a spicy pizzicato-and-legato study played with tremendous brio. Pièce en forme de habanera is here too and was one of Maréchal’s favourite encore pieces. [...] Dvořák’s Concerto, heard complete this time, with the Orchestre national de France directed by Carlos Paita in 1976. The orchestra is immeasurably better than the one in Brussels eight years earlier. Walevska plays eloquently throughout and one can hear why Josef Suk was so attracted to her playing and invited her to perform in Prague. [...]

https://musicwebinternational.com/2025/01/christine-walevska-cello-the-beauty-and-the-bow-rhine-classics/

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/

14 November 2024 | Jakub Puchalski | ICMA International Classical Music Awards - Nomination 2025

https://www.icma-info.com/icma-jury-nominates-374-releases-for-the-2025-awards-2/

11 November 2024 | Stephen Greenbank | MusicWeb International

Of limited interest to Kreisler collectors [SG]

https://musicwebinternational.com/2024/11/fritz-kreisler-violin-piano-american-portrait-rhine-classics/

20 October 2024  | Jean-Charles Hoffelé | ARTAMAG' - Focus - Le disque du jour | TOUT D'UN GRAND

http://www.artalinna.com/2024/10/20/tout-dun-grand-4

14 October 2024 | Jonathan Woolf | MusicWeb International

Live sonata performances from a Heifetz protégé who became his own man [JW]

https://musicwebinternational.com/2024/10/erick-friedman-violin-live-in-texas-rhine-classics-2/

 

RECOMMENDED / RECORDING OF THE MONTH Oct.2024

The vibrant, alluring art of arch-Romanticist, Aaron Rosand [JW]

https://musicwebinternational.com/2024/10/aaron-rosand-violin-in-memoriam-rhine-classics/

23 September 2024 | Jonathan Woolf | MusicWeb International

Strong, masculine playing from Berl Senofsky – along with some less than stellar performances [JW]

https://musicwebinternational.com/2024/09/berl-senofsky-violin-american-virtuoso-rhine-classics-2/ 

19 September 2024 | Stephen Greenbank | MusicWeb International

A pleasing addition to Friedman’s discography with these first CD releases [SG]

https://musicwebinternational.com/2024/09/erick-friedman-violin-live-in-texas-rhine-classics/

6 September 2024 | Rob Cowan | GRAMOPHONE - Vol.103 October 2024 | Box-Set / Round-Up

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. [...] Isaac Stern’s hegemony around American concert life is posited by Rhine Classics’ excellent annotator Gary Lemco as a possible reason, just as it was in the case of Aaron Rosand.

6 September 2024 | Rob Cowan | GRAMOPHONE - Vol.103 October 2024 | EDITOR’s CHOICE

A wonderful release that launches Berl Senofsky into the heady realms of collectable violin virtuosos.

https://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/article/review-berl-senofsky-american-virtuoso

Septembre 2024 | Jean-Michel Molkhou | "Talents oubliés" | CLASSICA n°265 p.89 | ROSAND [CHOC - Exceptionnel]; SENOFSKY, VASILE, KREISLER [☆☆☆☆☆ - Coup de coeur]; FRIEDMAN [☆☆☆ - Bon]. 

22 August 2024 | Jonathan Woolf | MusicWeb International

A Romanian Paganini specialist whose career trailed away [JW]

https://musicwebinternational.com/2024/08/paganini-violin-concerto-2-caprices-rhine-classics/

#3/2024 (UK)
15 August 2024 | Stephen Greenbank | MusicWeb International

Although something of a mixed bag, there’s much to please the Senofsky admirer enshrined in these two discs [SG]

https://musicwebinternational.com/2024/08/berl-senofsky-violin-american-virtuoso-rhine-classics/

#2/2024 (UK)
25 July 2024 | Jonathan Woolf | MusicWeb International

The piano rolls are real but the concert is not what it says [JW]

https://musicwebinternational.com/2024/07/fritz-kreisler-violin-piano-american-project-rhine-classics/

#1/2024 (UK)
18 July 2024 | Stephen Greenbank | MusicWeb International

An exciting discovery [SG]

https://musicwebinternational.com/2024/07/paganini-violin-concerto-caprices-rhine-classics/