Michail Lifits - Paganini, Schubert (CD)

Vilde Frang, partnered by pianist Michael Lifits, has assembled a programme that juxtaposes music by two violinist-composers of the early 19th century, Franz Schubert and Niccolò Paganini. While they lived vastly different lives and inhabited diverse aesthetic worlds, there are links to be found between them. Through the juxtaposition, Frang wants to highlight Schubert's capacity for virtuosity and Paganini's musicality and sensitivity. "It's the contrasts that appeal to me," she says. For her, the key connection between Schubert and Paganini is the inspiration they both found in the human voice. The album includes variations that Paganini wrote on themes from operas by Rossini (Tancredi) and Paisiello (La molinara), and the 'grand caprice' that the violinist Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst - considered Paganini's greatest successor - based on one of Schubert's most thrilling songs, Erlkönig. It sets a poem by Goethe that tells of a frantic night-time horse-ride by a father and his young son, who is tempted by a wicked spirit, the Erlking. When they reach their destination, the child is dead. "This Erlkönig is a gift to the violinist. There is such precision and accuracy in Ernst's transcription - it works so well that it sounds like it was written for the violin. And then there is the challenge of characterising the galloping horse, the father, the son and the Erlkönig himself."

Track List:

Disc: 1

1. Paganini- Introduction and Variations Op.38 in G on ‘Nel cor più non mi sento’ from La Molinara
2. Schubert Fantasie in C major D 934 for violin and piano Op. 159 Andante molto
3. Schubert Fantasie in C major D 934 for violin and piano Op. 159 Allegretto
4. Schubert Fantasie in C major D 934 for violin and piano Op. 159 Andantino
5. Schubert Fantasie in C major D 934 for violin and piano Op. 159 Allegro vivace
6. Paganini: I Palpiti, Introduction and Variations for violin and piano on ‘Di Tanti Palpiti’ from Rossini’s
7. Schubert / Liszt (1811–1886): Valse caprice No. 6 in A minor from ‘Soirées de Vienne’ S.427
8. Schubert: Rondo brillant in B minor for violin and piano D 895 "Rondeau Brillant" Andante
9. Schubert: Rondo brillant in B minor for violin and piano D 895 "Rondeau Brillant" Allegro
10. Paganini: Cantabile Op. 17 in D major for violin and piano
11. Schubert / Heinrich–Wilhelm Ernst (1812-1865): Grand caprice Op.26 D 328