OSSY RENARDY plays Violin Concertos
TCHAIKOVSKY: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op 35
National Orchestral Association
Leon Barzin ∙ conductor
Recorded ∙ 23 January 1939 ∙ New York City ∙ Carnegie Hall ∙ WNYC ∙ Live Recording
BRAHMS: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op 77
National Orchestral Association
Leon Barzin ∙ conductor
Recorded ∙ 15 April 1945 ∙ New York City ∙ Carnegie Hall ∙ WNYC ∙ Live Recording
ERNST: Violin Concerto in F-sharp Minor, Op 23
Radio City Symphony Orchestra
Ernö Rapée ∙ conductor
Recorded ∙ 28 September 1941 ∙ New York City ∙ Radio City Music Hall ∙ CBS ∙ Live Recording
Article number: MC 2037
UPC barcode: 791154054543
Release date: 16 July 2019
Booklet: 8 Pages
Total timing: 76:23
From the Original Masters ∙ © 2019 Meloclassic
October 2019 ∙ MusicWeb International ∙ Ossy Renardy plays Violin Concertos 1939-1945
Meloclassic notes the defects of these historic documents in the booklet. Recorded live on 16” acetates there’s a noticeable pitch lurch in the first movement of the Tchaikovsky and there are varying noise levels between the discs. However, I have to say that even with these limitations noted, the sound itself is perfectly listenable and the extreme rarity of the material offers an important insight into the art of the short-lived Ossy Renardy. The Tchaikovsky was recorded in Carnegie Hall in January 1939 when he was not yet 19 years old, having given his American premiere a year previously. There are numerus cuts. The young Renardy’s ardent expressive sound, with its characteristic tremulous vibrato in lyrically intense passages, is well captured. In new black livery with customarily helpful notes this is a finely engineered release and despite the cuts and the engineering questions the Tchaikovsky and Ernst concertos, previously unknown in Renardy’s discography, are important additions to his representation on disc.
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October 2019 ∙ MusicWeb International ∙ Ossy Renardy plays Violin Concertos 1939-1945
These three live concerto recordings by Ossy Renardy (1920-1953) are of added value in that the violinist’s discography contains just one example of a concerto recording with orchestra, the Brahms Concerto in D major with the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam under Charles Munch, set down on 27 June 1948. Munch was a Renardy admirer, declaring “There is only one word to describe him: perfection. He has everything – style, technique and tone, combined in the most splendid manner”. This is a fitting assessment. The source copies for these restorations were 16 inch acetates of varying quality. Added to that, the Tchaikovsky Concerto first movement has a pitch change which couldn’t be adjusted. Owing to microphone placement, the soloist is forwardly spotlighted in each of the concertos, with the orchestra, in each case, sounding rather recessed. Nevertheless, despite these shortcomings, these recorded documents are of tremendous historical importance and value.
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December 2019 ∙ British Gramophone ∙ Rob Cowan ∙ Ossy Renardy plays Violin Concertos 1939-1945 1965-1968
An Ossy Renardy album (MC2037) includes the Brahms and Tchaikovsky violin concertos (the latter is cut). The Ernst’s Concerto, a real wrist-breaker, is given the performance of a lifetime.
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April 2020 ∙ French Diapason ∙ Jean-Michel Molkhou ∙ Ossy Renardy plays Violin Concertos 1939-1945
Trois live new-yorkais permettent de retrouver le violoniste Ossy Renardy (1920-1953), de son vrai nom Oskar Reiss fauché à trente ans dans un accident de voiture — on lui doit le premier enregistrement mondial des Caprices de Paganini. Aux concertos de Brahms (1945, trois ans avant le disque fameux avec Munch) et de Tchaikovsky (1939) dirigés par Leon Barzin, s’ajoute celui, « Pathétique de Ernst (1941) sous la baguette d’Ernö Rapée. Malgré l’étroitesse du spectre sonore, on admire un spectaculaire goût du risque, un style vibrant et une étincelante technique qui témoignent d’une forte personnalité.
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