Track Listing

1. Zigeunerweisen, Op.20
2. Carmen Fant, Op.25
3. Mazurek, Op.49
4. Vn Con in a, Op.53: I. Allegro Ma Non Troppo
5. Vn Con in a, Op.53: II. Adagio Ma Non Troppo
6. Vn Con in a, Op.53: III. Finale: Allegro Giocoso, Ma Non Troppo

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #193135 in Music
• Released on: 2001-10-09
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
Akiko Suwanai, the youngest winner of the Tchaikovsky Competition, is a stunning virtuoso with a sensitive musical heart. Her tone is gorgeous: radiant on the high strings, dark and warm on the low ones, pure at all times. Her technique is brilliant, her intonation flawless. She executes the most hair-raising violinistic feats--runs at top speed, double and triple stops, harmonics--with effortless ease and a beautiful sound. Her program here seems to be arranged backward, with the dessert preceding the main course, perhaps to show that you need enough technique for bravura pieces to do justice to real music.

Sarasate's "Zigeunerweisen" and "Carmen Fantasy" are played with virtuosic flair and idiomatic feeling. The former's gypsy abandon and melancholy sometimes verge on sentimentality, but the latter's passion, fire, and seductive charm almost make it sound like music. Dvorák's "Mazurek" provides the link between the two composers: it is dedicated to Sarasate. It, too, is basically a virtuoso piece, but a lovely, pensive melody intermittently relieves the fireworks. In the Concerto, the first movement is most convincing. The treacherous opening is not only technically perfect, but highly dramatic and rhetorical; the rhythm is rock-steady, yet flexible, and Suwanai brings out its ardent romanticism with great warmth and inward expressiveness. The other two movements feel driven, as if time were running out. The slow one is restless, the Finale downright hectic, though she tries to make the most of the lyrical moments. The orchestra supports her splendidly throughout. The booklet contains much information about the music, but not a word about the violinist. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews

It doesn't get any better than this!
This CD belongs in the library of every classical music lover. Take it from someone who has a classical music library of over 3500 CD's (that's me!). Suwanai is a musician of the highest caliber. You can Youtube her truly *special* performances of Paganini and Tchaikovsky concertos at the 1990 Tchaikovsky Competition which won her a unanimous 1st place vote from all judges. Suwanai has finger-speed to spare and dispenses with the most demanding passages with perfect intonation and technique and gorgeous color.

I've heard dozens of versions Sarasate's Carmen Fantasy. It is part of the violinist's standard repertoire of "show-pieces" which I usually ignore. Suwanai's version, however, is worth your attention. She seems not to forget the role of each passage in relation to the entire piece. As one prior reviewer stated, she makes it work. It is wholly satisfying to listen to.

This recording of Ziguenerweisen (Gypsy Airs) is a highly regarded one. It's amazing to hear the show-pieces played so cleanly and oonvincingly even by a world-class violinist. I recently listened to Joshua Bell's version of this same piece, and the difference was like night and day. Suwanai's playing sounds effortless whereas Bell sounds like he is struggling to play the notes cleanly.

After the appetizers comes the main course. Once you hear this Dvorak Violin concerto, all other recordings (Sarah Chang, Kyung Wha Chung, Itzhak Perlman, Tasmin Little) will sound dull and lifeless in comparison. The first movement is very convincing, but the final movement, played at a brisk tempo, is wonderful and sets it apart from other recordings. When a violinist is playing as such a tempo, some of the musical coloration can be lost. Not with this one! You will not regret this purchase.

If Ever a Violinist Deserved to be More Well Known...
Akiko Suwanai is among one of the most under-appreciated violinists. She has a knack for playing with such a sweet lyricism and clarity even on the instrument's uppermost ranges that it's truly astonishing. Where Mischa Elman sounds arrogantly strained and overpowered, Suwanai's playing is all clear, well-harnessed finesse. You will not be disappointed by getting this CD. I noticed one of the other reviewers has mentioned that these pieces may not be substantial enought to warrant a five star rating. My response to that is this: any classical music lover who wants to experience the joy of the violin instrument should buy this CD. Frankly, some of Sarasate's pieces, while not as complex, do a superior job of higlighting the musical prowess of the violin instrument compared to other so-called more substantial works. Like Horowitz playing Chopin, Suwanai at times offers spine-tingling virtuosity, and the Sarasate is decadently rich under her masterful direction.

strong performances of lesser-known (but less important) repertiore
I feel rather torn to give this recording only three stars, for it has much to recommend it as far as the virtuosity of the sololist and the strength and character of the ensemble playing go. The other reviewers here have offered much-deserved praise to the album in this regard. So there are no complaints along those lines; it's just that the compositions here read are not especially interesting. The virtuoso showpieces are fun and of course it's impressive to hear them played so well, but that's about as much as can be said for them (and, in fact, they are served even better, in my opinion, in Anne-Sophie Mutter's album containing the Sarasate pieces). And the Dvorak concerto simply does not deserve mention alongside his Cello Concerto, or last three symphonies. I wanted very much to like the piece more than I do, but it is a lesser, minor work.