Zino Francescatti
Though indeed of Italian background, violinist Zino Francescatti was a Frenchman, born in Marseilles in 1902. His real name was René-Charles Francescatti. Both his parents played the violin, and his father René had been a student of Paganini. The younger Francescatti performed the Paganini Violin Concerto No. 1 at his official Paris debut in 1925.
By that time Francescatti was already an experienced performer. He gave his first concert at age 5 and played the Beethoven violin concerto at 10. From his late teens he concertized regularly, and after arriving in Paris in 1924 he formed a duo with none less than Maurice Ravel and embarked on an international tour. In the 1920s and 1930s Francescatti toured the globe, although his U.S. debut didn't come until 1939, once again with the Paganini Concerto No. 1, in a New York Philharmonic concert.
Despite his fondness for Paganini, Francescatti was more identified with elegant, natural-seeming playing than with sheer virtuoso fireworks. Later in life he toured and recorded with the similarly fluid French pianist Robert Casadesus in duo repertory; they recorded a complete set of Beethoven's violin and piano sonatas, lyrical works ideally suited to their combined styles. Living in New York but often returning to France to perform and teach, Francescatti made durable recordings of several major repertory works, including the Beethoven concerto with conductor Bruno Walter and the Columbia Symphony Orchestra. Francescatti retired in 1976, moved back to France, and sold his prized Stradivarius instrument to Salvatore Accardo. In 1987 he used part of the proceeds to establish an educational foundation and a violin competition in the city of Aix-en-Provence.
Despite the deep-rooted European traditions exemplified in his playing, Francescatti's memory has not been particularly well served by reissue houses. An exception, however, is the Bridge release An Evening of Paganini (Great Performances from The Library of Congress, Vol. 17), which won a Best Recording of the Year award from Fanfare magazine. The disc presents a 1954 Paganini recital Francescatti gave with pianist Artur Balsam. The Zino Francescatti in Performance two-disc set released by the Music & Arts label offers Francescatti concerto performances from the 1940s and 1950s with various orchestras. Some of his original concerto recordings on the Columbia label have been reissued as part of the Sony Masterworks Heritage series.
© TiVo
-
Sibelius & Bruch: Violin Concertos
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on Jun 5, 2015
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61 (Remastered)
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on Nov 1, 2019
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Violin Concerto, Op. 77 - Vieuxtemps: Violin Concerto No. 4, Op. 31 (Remastered)
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on Aug 20, 1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn & Tchaikovsky: Violin Concertos
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on Mar 7, 1955
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Zino Francescatti plays Lalo & Vieuxtemps
Zino Francescatti, Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Eugene Ormandy, Dimitri Mitropoulos, William Smith
Classical - Released by Biddulph Recordings on Jan 1, 1957
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Paganini: Violin Concerto No. 1 in D Major, Op. 6 (Remastered)
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on Oct 19, 1953
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
J.S. Bach: Violin Works
Zino Francescatti, The Cleveland Orchestra, George Szell
Classical - Released by Biddulph Recordings on Feb 29, 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sarasate: Zigeunerweisen, Op. 20 - Saint-Saens: Havanaise in E Major, Op. 83 - Chausson: Poéme, Op. 25 (Remastered)
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on Nov 10, 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Fauré: Violin Sonatas Nos. 1 & 2
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on Mar 1, 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Violin Concerto No.1 Bwv 1041 & No.2 Bwv 1042 & No.3 Bwv 1043
Régis Pasquier, Zino Francescatti, Festival Strings Lucerne, Rudolf Baumgartner
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan 1, 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Nos. 5 in F Major"Spring" & 6 in A Major (Remastered)
Zino Francescatti, Robert Casadesus
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on May 8, 2020
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Nos. 1 & 9 "Kreutzer"
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on Mar 1, 2019
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Vitali, Paganini, Saint-Saëns, Ravel & Others: Works
Zino Francescatti, Artur Balsam, Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy
Classical - Released by Biddulph Recordings on Nov 6, 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven, Fauré, Franck & Debussy: Violin Sonatas
Zino Francescatti, Audience, July 13th, 1951 - Aix-en-Provence Festival, Robert Casadesus, Unknown Artist
Chamber Music - Released by Profil on Aug 23, 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Nos. 3, 4 & 5 "Spring" (Remastered)
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on Mar 1, 2019
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Franck & Debussy: Violin Sonatas
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on Mar 1, 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Franck: Violin Sonata in A Major, FWV 8 by Zino Francescatti
Zino Francescatti, Robert Casadesus
Classical - Released by Alexandre Bak - Classical Music Reference Recording on Jul 29, 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Complete HMV Recordings
Zino Francescatti, Georges Becker, Éliane Zurfluh-Tenroc
Chamber Music - Released by Biddulph Recordings on Nov 15, 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Walton: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra - Lalo: Symphonie Espagnole
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on Mar 21, 1960
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven, Brahms, Saint-Saëns, Debussy, Ravel
Classical - Released by Ina Archives on Feb 28, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Violin Concerto, Op. 77 - Sibelius: Violin Concerto, Op. 47
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on Jul 28, 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo