Emile Sauret is best known for his fiendish cadenza for the Paganini D major violin concerto. His 24 études-caprices Op.64 are little known: until Nazrin Rashidova came along and she has now recorded all 24 in four volumes. Four and a half hours of solo violin playing.
There is a lot of double-stopping in these études-caprices. Each lasts for around 12-15 minutes, and Sauret was obviously a stickler for intonation, and for varied and versatile bowing. Etude 21 lasts for 15 minutes and is double-stopped throughout. The works will fascinate aficionados of violin playing; in general, they are less overtly virtuosic and have less “circus tricks” than comparable pieces by Paganini or Heinrich Ernst. I can think of no criticism of Ms Rashidova's playing. For the current volume, she again plays a Stradivari of around 1685 that once belonged to Sauret.
Congratulations and thanks to Ms Rashidova, and also to courageous Naxos. Where would lovers of classical music be without companies such as Naxos, Hyperion, Harmonia Mundi, and others. Ms Rashidova wrote the excellent liner notes for this release, and also co-produced the (excellent) recording. Quite a talented young woman; she looks attractive (from the one photo Naxos features) so thank goodness she did not record for Warner or DG where 8-10 photos of her would be plastered throughout the booklet. Naxos's cover features a large picture of .... Emile Sauret.
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