Cheap Paganini: Gran Viola (Music) (Ernest Bloch, Claude Debussy, Fritz Kreisler, Niccolo Paganini, Maurice Ravel, Pablo de Sarasate, Bruno Canino, Jacques Delacote, RIAS-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Luigi Alberto Bianchi) Price

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Customer Reviews of Paganini: Gran Viola

Wonderful Recording
This is a truly spectacular recording. Obviously, the highlight of the disc is the Paganini Sonata for Viola/Orchestra, and after listening to this recording it's difficult to understand how the viola was ignored as an instrument with solo potential for so long. <
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>For me, the best part about the Paganini Sonata is that it sounds like it was written for the viola. He managed to compose a piece that has all the virtuosity and excitement of much of the violin music out there, but still utilizes the viola's unique qualities (Paganini makes ample use of the lower register and seems to stay away from passage writing that requires the brilliance of the violin's sound to really shine). I think the remaining transcriptions were well chosen and work with the viola. The Kreisler pieces are nice and really let the warm, singing tone of the viola shine through. I think Biachi really excels in the delicate Debussy piece. Interestingly, I think this piece actually works better as a transcription. It is originally for piano, but I think the melody is so lush and beautiful that it almost needs a string instrument to make the most of it. The Sarasate pieces are fun as well. I particularly enjoy Zapateado, but they're all good. <
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>Bianchi's playing throughout is agile and he makes this difficult stuff sound easy. For me, his best quality is his beautiful sound. His technique is amazing, but his sound is just SO good for a viola, which may in some way be attributed to the viola he is playing (which was apparently very large). In the program notes, it said that his famous viola (worth 4-5 million dollars!) was stolen many years ago. Later I searched online just to see if I could find any news stories about it and I was happy to find out that it was recently recovered (just an interesting tidbit, if you were interested). <
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>The only minor problem with the CD is that the sound quality isn't always as clear as I'd like. It's not bad by any means, but the orchestra in the Gran Sonata is a little muddy sounding at times. The piano pieces fare better in this regard. Enjoy!

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Paganini's Sonata for Gran Viola and ORCHESTRA!
This is the only recording I've come across containing the rare Paganini Sonata per la gran viola e orchestra. Most versions I see, including the Naxos version, have the version for viola and guitar, which is also worth listening to, but not as interesting as the version see on this CD. It's unfortunate that Luigi Alberto Bianchi has turned away from the viola and more to the violin, as he was quite the viola player to tackle the incredibly tough Paganini sonata. The other works on this disc are transcriptions of violin showpieces for the most part, and are not exactly the highlight of the disc, but are easy listening for casual classical music fans. Overall, this is an excellent CD for any viola player or classical music lover.