Christian Ferras Plays Sibelius, Stravinsky & Franck (EMI Classic Archive)

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Price: $261.99   

Product Description

The accomplished French violinist Christian Ferras performs works by Sibelius, Stravinsky, Franck, Bach, and Mozart, in these remarkable and vintage television performances. 118 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English PCM mono.

Christian Ferras Plays Sibelius, Stravinsky & Franck (EMI Classic Archive) Review

Unlike most of the other violinists featured in the excellent "classical archive" EMI series, Christian Ferras DOES require an introduction. Less known than other violinistic superstars such as Oistrakh, Kogan, Szeryng, and even Grumiaux (and Ferras was very much the equal of these great musicians), Christian Ferras was a prodigy on the violin. His recordings of all the major works with conductors such as Karajan and others gained the respect and admiration of musicians the world over. Strangely enough, he took his own life just as the second dawn of his career was to start, which is perhaps one reason for his Lilliputian reputation when compared to the aforementioned greats.
Still, these video recordings of his playing show Ferras at his interpretive and artistic peak, where he takes a number of "unconventional" risks in the Sibelius Concerto, while his Franck Sonata and Faure Berceuse (originally written as a sight-reading exercise for conservatory examinations) demonstrate his Gallic sensibilities to the extreme. It is a shame that such "schmaltzy" playing might be derided in this day and age of cerebral performances, for even his Bach (which is quite reserved, actually) is excellent, showing Ferras' versatility as a player.
The somewhat perplexing inclusion of Zino Francescatti as a bonus on this DVD is nonetheless joyously received, for his -thankfully complete- Mozart K218 is wonderful to behold. Whenever one hears or sees Francescatti play, a hint of smile has to appear on one's lips, and this recording certainly does not disappoint.
The one annoying thing about this DVD (and one is nitpicking here) is the occasionally awful camera angles and "techniques" the photographers choose to employ. Done with a keen eye for the cheesy as opposed to the useful, we are oftentimes treated to an extremely close (and unflattering) view of Ferras' face as he plays the Sibelius, or his chest (thus showing the bow sans violin). The ultimte cheesy camera moment happens somewhere in the Sibelius, when in the middle of a particularly dramatic moment, the camera zooms out suddenly, causing any one with an inkling of taste to groan inwardly.
Still, this is all not so important in a truly wonderful collection of gems of the classical archive, with excellent sound and picture quality. Well worth the money.

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