The Bel Canto Violin (21CD Box Set)

From shellac to stereo, for the first time and newly remastered, the complete Decca and L’Oiseau-Lyre recordings (from 1931 to 1978) of Alfredo Campoli, including unpublished tracks and the classical 78s (newly remastered by Mark Obert-Thorn). 

LIMITED EDITION

MORE INFORMATION

Born into a family of professional musicians in 1906, Campoli rapidly took to the violin, and before he turned eighteen, he was already secure in eleven major concertos. He subsequently toured with celebrated singers of the day including Nellie Melba and Clara Butt, before turning his attention to light music. During the 1930s he became a household name in the UK, known simply as ‘Campoli’, for his many recordings and broadcasts, especially with his Salon Orchestra.

Campoli’s impeccable technique and showman’s instincts were combined with a rare purity of tone and beauty of phrasing, often likened to bel canto singing. He began recording for Decca in 1931, and these 78rpm discs have rarely been issued since, but they present the violinist on typically characterful form, in miniatures and arrangements which capture the essence of romantic violin-playing. Several tracks previously unpublished on Decca from a session in June 1940 include transcriptions of Chopin, Grainger and Stephen Foster, where Campoli turns on the charm in quintessential style.

Decca captured the full range of Campoli’s musicianship, from salon-orchestra serenades and Baroque-era sonatas to the first recording of the concerto which Sir Arthur Bliss wrote for him. He brought a special warmth and unmannered pathos to the Violin Concerto by Elgar, under the baton of Sir Adrian Boult in 1954, which stands out as a highlight of his legacy on record.

A larger-than-life figure, keen on tennis and bridge and usually sporting a large cigar, Campoli continued to record for Decca during the LP and stereo eras, his technique undimmed by age. At the age of 73, he returned to the studio for the L’Oiseau-Lyre label, recording an album of Wieniawski which brought his career on record full circle, back to the virtuoso and popular repertoire that had made his name.

This Eloquence set presents Campoli’s legacy in largely chronological order, restoring the original LP couplings, and presenting for the first time on CD stereo versions of Saint-Saëns’s Violin Concerto No. 3, the Kreisler/Paganini Violin Concerto No. 1 and pieces by Sarasate and Wieniawski. The remastering engineer Mark Obert-Thorn contributes a note focusing on the violinist’s early recordings on 78rpm. First-issue covers and many rare photographs are complemented by a new and illuminating essay by Andrew Dalton, who recalls Campoli in concert in the early 1960s: ‘I was instantly captivated, for a Campoli performance was never routine’.

These recordings contain new remasterings from original sources and original jackets. LIMITED EDITION.

TRACK LIST

CD 1

The Decca 78s – Music by Albéniz, Drigo, Kreisler, Elgar, Bazzini, Lehár, Paderewski, Mozskowski, et.al.

Harold Pedlar, piano

Sidney Crooke, piano

Alfredo Campoli Trio

FIRST CD RELEASE ON DECCA

CD 2

The Decca 78s – Music by Handel, Monti, Kreisler, Hubay, Hahn, Raff, Chopin, Foster, Grainger, Gossec, et.al.

Sidney Crooke, piano

Welbeck Light String Quartet

FIRST CD RELEASE ON DECCA

CD 3

The Decca 78s – Music by Heykens, Kálmán, J. Strauss II, Waldteufel, Offenbach, Poldini, Fibich, et.al.

Alfredo Campoli and the Dorchester Hotel Orchestra

Alfredo Campoli and his Salon Orchestra

FIRST CD RELEASE ON DECCA

CD 4

The Decca 78s – Music by Puccini, Herbert, Elgar, Rubinstein, Mendelssohn, Coates, Raff, et.al.

Alfredo Campoli and his Salon Orchestra

Alfredo Campoli and his Grand Orchestra

Alfredo Campoli and his Concert Orchestra

FIRST CD RELEASE ON DECCA

CD 5

TARTINI Violin Sonata, Op. 1 No. 10 ‘Didone abbandonata’

J.S. BACH Arioso (from Keyboard Concerto, BWV 1056)

PAGANINI/KREISLER Caprices, Op. 1 Nos. 13 & 20; La Campanella

J.S. BACH Air (Orchestral Suite No. 3)

KREISLER/PAGANINI Concerto in one movement

CORELLI Violin Sonata, Op. 5 No. 12 ‘La Folia’

Eric Gritton, piano

National Symphony Orchestra / Victor Olof

FIRST CD RELEASE ON DECCA

CD 6

J.S. BACH Partita No. 2

TARTINI Violin Sonata in G minor ‘The Devil’s Trill’*

Music by Bazzini, Hubay, Hummel, Debussy and Corelli*

Eric Gritton, piano

*FIRST CD RELEASE ON DECCA

CD 7

MENDELSSOHN Violin Concerto in E minor

Music by Poulenc, Albéniz, Tartini, Ravel, Brahms, Massenet, Chopin, Mozart*

London Philharmonic Orchestra / Eduard van Beinum

Eric Gritton, piano

*FIRST CD RELEASE ON DECCA

CD 8

BEETHOVEN Violin Concerto

Josef Krips

CD 9

HANDEL Violin Sonatas

George Malcolm

CD 10

LALO Symphonie espagnole

SAINT-SAËNS Havanaise; Introduction et Rondo capriccioso

Eduard van Beinum; Anatole Fistoulari

CD 11

Campoli Encores – Music by Dohnányi, Paganini, Fibich, Ponce, Drdla, Fiocco, Heuberger, Mendelssohn, et.al.

George Malcolm; Eric Gritton

CD 12

Homage to Fritz Kreisler

Eric Gritton

CD 13

ELGAR Violin Concerto

Adrian Boult

CD 14

TARTINI Violin Sonatas – ‘Devil’s Trill’ & ‘Didone abbandonata’

BRUCH Violin Concerto No. 1

George Malcolm; Royalton Kisch

CD 15

BLISS Violin Concerto

Theme and Cadenza

Arthur Bliss

CD 16

SAINT-SAËNS Violin Concerto No. 3

KREISLER/PAGANINI Concerto in one movement

WIENIAWSKI Légende

SARASATE Zigeunerweisen

Piero Gamba

FIRST CD RELEASE IN STEREO

CD 17

TCHAIKOVSKY Violin Concerto

Swan Lake (dances)

Ataúlfo Argenta; Anatole Fistoulari

CD 18

MENDELSSOHN Violin Concerto

BRUCH Scottish Fantasy

Adrian Boult

CD 19

Campoli Encores – Music by Albéniz, Bazzini, Brahms, Yamada, Paganini/Kreisler, Mozart

Norihiko Wada

CD 20

SARASATE Danzas españolas; Navarra

Daphne Ibbott

CD 21

WIENIAWSKI Music for Violin & Piano

Daphne Ibbott

Alfredo Campoli, violin