Pina Carmirelli ∙ Violin Recitals 1966-1969 ∙ 2CD

December 2016 ∙ MusicWeb International ∙ Pina Carmirelli plays Beethoven, Brahms, Franck, Mozart, Pizzetti and Schubert
This twofer preserves German broadcast performances Carmirelli gave between 1966 and 1969. The sound quality is excellent, as is usual from this source. The repertoire is standard fare. Only the Pizzetti hints at her nationality. The Franck Sonata, with Friedrich Wilhelm Schnurr, exposes some limitations in tone colour as well as some hoarse and indeed wild phrasing in the Allegro second movement – though her phrasing in the third movement is fine. Some expressive slides grace the finale, and it is possibly the recording that exaggerates some brittle chording. She seems more temperamentally attuned to Schubert’s Fantasie, recorded at the same time, which is conceptually and architecturally excellent, even if some pinched tone remains. Her bowing is flexible throughout. With the dependable Lothar Broddack, once again in Hannover, she taped an excellent Schubert Rondo and a breathless Beethoven G major, with an ardently phrased Minuetto and a zesty finale. She teams up with Broddack for a buoyant and enjoyable Mozart B flat major sonata, K454, and for the Pizzetti, which is characterfully done and accomplished. For the other Mozart Sonata, the G major, K379, she was paired with Maria Bergmann in Baden-Baden. Bergmann is a sensitive accompanist who plays the variation movement particularly deftly. They also taped Brahms’s G major sonata; it was a feast of G major that October day in 1968. There are some fine dynamics to be heard in this reading, as well as some ingenious rubati, though Carmirelli’s tone bloats quite alarmingly in the Adagio. Nevertheless, this is vividly done. It is good that Carmirelli’s legacy has been expanded in this way, because all the pieces are new to her discography. Fine notes complete a good restoration.
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March 2017 ∙ MusicWeb International ∙ Pina Carmirelli plays Beethoven, Brahms, Franck, Mozart, Pizzetti and Schubert
There’s much to enjoy in the diverse selection of music presented here. What are the highlights? There’s a very fine performance of Brahms Sonata No. 1. Carmirelli and Lothar Broddack allow the music to unfold naturally, basking in its generous lyricism. The slow movement especially is deeply felt. The Schubert Fantasie is as good as any I’ve heard and, in the variation section on the theme Sei mir gegrüsst, Carmirelli characterizes each variation with delicacy and finesse. It’s a pleasure to have the Schubert B minor Rondo, as it doesn’t get that many outings. The players invest the closing section with verve and vigour – as invigorating a reading as you are ever likely to encounter. The geniality and Haydnesque humour of Beethoven’s G major Sonata is always guaranteed to engender a sense of well-being, and this performance is no exception. The Pizzetti Tre Canti is a pleasing addition; a rarity I’ve never come across before. The entire contents of this admirable 2 CD set are in fine sound, and in each case the balance between the instrumentalists can’t be faulted. As is the norm, Meloclassic’s documentation is first rate, with English booklet notes scripted.
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