Those Sei Solo by Leonidas Kavakos confront volume 1 by Frank-Peter Zimmermann (Sonata II, Partitas II and III) at Bis (BIS-2577), published at the same time. Sometimes considered in the profession as the two best violinists in the world, they both come up against the recent releases of Augustin Hadelich (Warner) and, above all, James Ehnes (Onyx). Is it because it adopts a low pitch and semblance of musicological finery (largely random), with a sort of “lemony” crispness in the treble, that the Kavakos version garners so much critical approval? To our ears, it’s the disillusionment of a tense exercise, which also proves that sound recording (here an implausible halo) is really an integral part of such an artistic project. The reverberation, almost identical, serves the musical warmth of Zimmermann much more than the technicality, way Whims of Paganini, of Kavakos. Once completed, the Zimmermann integral will be measured in Ehnes. For the musicological approach: Schayegh at Glossa.
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