Sunday 21 March 2004

This was Mischa Elman weekend (plus Jamieson Whisky, moules marinière and good Tetbury steak). The eight CDs from Testament arrived, comprising all the Decca recordings 1954-56 that have been unavailable for so long. This also enabled me to tidy up my Elman collection, and amalgamate a few old CDs -- as well as throw out a few Ace of Clubs and Ace of Diamond LPs.
I was surprised to like Elman in the two Mozart concertos, as well as in the Beethoven. Whatever: the man was inimitable and one of the 4-5 great violinists of the twentieth century. The Elman sound is completely unique. Sad that he was soon deemed "unfashionable" and condemned to linger unheard except by a few violin-loving fanatics. Anyway, this weekend I shall have had around six hours of Elman listening, and feel better for it. There are not many violinists who could keep me interested for six hours in one weekend!

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