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
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Sibelius & Bruch: Violin Concertos
Klassik - Erschienen bei Sony Classical am 05.06.2015
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61 (Remastered)
Klassik - Erschienen bei Sony Classical am 01.11.2019
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Violin Concerto, Op. 77 - Vieuxtemps: Violin Concerto No. 4, Op. 31 (Remastered)
Klassik - Erschienen bei Sony Classical am 20.08.1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn & Tchaikovsky: Violin Concertos
Klassik - Erschienen bei Sony Classical am 07.03.1955
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
Klassik - Erschienen bei Biddulph Recordings am 01.01.1957
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Paganini: Violin Concerto No. 1 in D Major, Op. 6 (Remastered)
Klassik - Erschienen bei Sony Classical am 19.10.1953
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Munch conducts Beethoven
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Clara Haskil, Claudio Arrau, Jascha Heifetz, Zino Francescatti, Charles Munch
Klassik - Erschienen bei West Hill Radio Archives am 04.10.2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
J.S. Bach: Violin Works
Zino Francescatti, The Cleveland Orchestra, George Szell
Klassik - Erschienen bei Biddulph Recordings am 29.02.2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Concerto pour violon et orchestre, Op. 61 (Mono Version)
Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy, Zino Francescatti
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1952
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Sonates pour violon et piano Nos. 3 & 4 (Mono Version)
Zino Francescatti, Robert Casadesus
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Sarasate: Zigeunerweisen, Op. 20 - Saint-Saens: Havanaise in E Major, Op. 83 - Chausson: Poéme, Op. 25 (Remastered)
Klassik - Erschienen bei Sony Classical am 10.11.1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Fauré: Violin Sonatas Nos. 1 & 2
Klassik - Erschienen bei Sony Classical am 01.03.2019
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
Klassik - Erschienen bei Deutsche Grammophon (DG) am 01.01.1998
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
Klassik - Erschienen bei Sony Classical am 08.05.2020
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Nos. 1 & 9 "Kreutzer"
Klassik - Erschienen bei Sony Classical am 01.03.2019
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Vitali, Paganini, Saint-Saëns, Ravel & Others: Works
Zino Francescatti, Artur Balsam, Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy
Klassik - Erschienen bei Biddulph Recordings am 06.11.2007
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
Kammermusik - Erschienen bei Profil am 23.08.2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Nos. 3, 4 & 5 "Spring" (Remastered)
Klassik - Erschienen bei Sony Classical am 01.03.2019
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Franck & Debussy: Violin Sonatas
Klassik - Erschienen bei Sony Classical am 01.03.2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto, Op. 64 - Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1, Op. 26
Klassik - Erschienen bei Sony Classical am 13.07.2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Franck: Violin Sonata in A Major, FWV 8 by Zino Francescatti
Zino Francescatti, Robert Casadesus
Klassik - Erschienen bei Alexandre Bak - Classical Music Reference Recording am 29.07.2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo