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Christian Ferras & Pierre Barbizet – Debussy & Enescu: Violin Sonatas – Ravel: Tzigane (Remastered) (1962/2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 44:24 minutes | 944 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Warner Classics
The recordings of violinist Christian Ferras demonstrate a curious duality of style: on the one hand a tightly wound, somewhat harsh, brassy sound with nagging and intrusive vibrato (found particularly in some of his later work); on the other, a warmer, more old-fashioned, Romantic approach, with conspicuous portamenti and tempo rubato. To some extent, chronology plays a part—recordings before 1960 tend towards the latter style—but this is not clear-cut. It may be that Ferras consciously began to impose a modernist style on Classical works in keeping with current trends (which would explain why his 1964 Sibelius Concerto has stylistic traits in common with his 1951 Beethoven); but however this may be, a detailed study of Ferras’s whole discography would give fascinating insights into post-war stylistic change in established repertoire. Ferras’s struggle with depression that, tragically, led to his suicide at the age of forty nine, may also be a factor in his changeable interpretative approach.
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Christian Ferras, Pierre Barbizet, Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg – Beethoven, Tchaikovsky & Others: Violin Sonatas & Concertos (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 04:26:07 minutes | 2,54 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © SWR Classic
Christian Ferras will most likely be remembered as the violinist who was filmed shedding tears at the end of the slow movement of Sibelius’s Concerto in 1965, and who, after a dramatic downturn in his career, took his own life at the age of 49. And, of course, as the child prodigy from the French provinces who became – at the height of his fame – Herbert von Karajan’s favorite violinist. His artistic personality was shaped by his utter, though humble, devotion to the music, demonstrated by his appropriate yet lively tone, elegant bowing, effervescent, energetic fingering and considered phrasing. The recordings of Christian Ferras with pianist Pierre Barbizet are of the utmost importance, with the musicians forming an inimitable partnership. The concertos in this collection showcase the violinist as a captivating soloist – Müller-Kray follows his every move in the Beethoven and Tchaikovsky with dynamic sensitivity, Gielen’s analytical expertise within the Berg is unrivalled and Ferras’s partnership with Blomstedt results in a profound interpretation of the Brahms.
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