The music critics and academic musicians of the twentieth century have a lot to answer for. Their systematic denigration of anything they considered to be "traditional" music -- ie, non-revolutionary -- made composers such as Sibelius shut up shop. I recall the premier of Shostakovich's first violin concerto being damned with faint praise, as was the premier of Benjamin Britten's War Requiem. All music was post- Schönberg, Webern, Berg, Nono, Stockhausen, Boulez, et al. Bartok was suspicious, Stravinsky was admitted cautiously for his later, cerebral music. In England, William Glock and Hans Keller reigned supreme at the BBC and made sure that no 20th century music with even the hint of a tune or melody was allowed on the air. Practising musicians -- and audiences for music -- may have hated the dodecaphonists and all their followers and hangers-on. But few such people worried what musicians and audiences liked.

Slowly, the hidden music of the 20th century is being brought to light. To read one of the initial criticisms of Rachmaninov's fourth piano concerto, quoted by Yevgeny Sudbin, is to realise just what composers were up against: "It is neither futuristic music nor music of the future. Its past was present in Continental capital half a century ago. .. Mme Cécile Chaminade might safely have perpetrated it on her third glass of vodka". Thank you, learned American critic. On a new CD, Sudbin plays the original, uncut version of Rachmaninov's fourth piano concerto and makes a very fine job of it. The concerto was dedicated to Nikolai Medtner -- another victim of writing "unrevolutionary" music -- and the CD couples this with Medtner's second piano concerto, dedicated to Rachmaninov. Sudbin writes his own programme notes and opines, concerning the Medtner: "Why this concerto is not performed more often nevertheless remains a mystery and is nothing short of scandalous. It offers everything a pianist, or a conductor, can wish for". Bravo Yevgeny Sudbin for the (excellent) performances. And bravo BIS for recording the two works and making them available. Stockhausen's second piano concerto, anyone?

There is no shortage of recordings of Beethoven's complete set of 10 sonatas for violin and piano; from sets I have, Kreisler-Rupp (1930s), Szigeti-Arrau (1940s), Ferras-Barbizet (1950s), Grumiaux-Haskil (1950s), Pamela and Claude Frank (1990s) and Christian Tetzlaff with Alexander Longuich all spring to mind. I have now added Isabelle Faust with Alexander Melnikov; the new set is of a very high standard indeed but somewhat "different". Faust goes from pianissimo to fortissimo; her tone goes from sweet to (intentionally) somewhat harsh. Her bow darts around. The firm end result for me was intense admiration -- for Beethoven's music. Played by Faust and Melnikov he comes over as a true revolutionary of 1800, writing music that is often experimental and frequently "different". Too often this music can sound like a wannabe-Brahms; but not here. Maybe the second movement of Op 30 No.3 doesn't sound as beautiful as usual; but you turn to Faust and Melnikov for excitement, variety and astonishing mood changes, not for simple beauty.

The recording (Harmonia Mundi) is excellent, with a good balance between piano and violin. Faust and Melnikov have a true duo partnership. Kreisler and Rupp are still around after 70 years; maybe Faust and Melnikov will have a similar long life. I have long been a fan of Isabelle Faust, and this new CD set confirms my admiration.

My appetite is returning, so the virus is abating. Just a question of multiple boxes of Kleenex for a while.

I embarked on the latest instalment of Sigiswald Kuijken's Bach cantata series (Volume 9). I am now a fan of the series (and of the music). The instrumental contributions are usually excellent, and the vocal contributions variable, but usually good. One complication is Kuijken's claimed "discovery" of Leipzig pitch at A=465 Hz, versus Dresden pitch at A=415 Hz. This seems to be based on organ tunings. For instruments this is no great problem, of course -- they either tune higher or lower, or transpose. But voices can sound a bit desperate at A=465, with the bass, Jan Van der Crabben often sounding more like a basso castrato, and the tenor, Christoph Genz, sounding even weedier than usual; no Heldentenor, he. What with Marco Vitale's "Roman pitch" of A=392, and Kuijken's "Leipzig pitch" of A=465, those who claimed to possess "perfect pitch" (whatever that was supposed to be) must be having a hard time of it.

Back from travels to Brussels and Paris. 'Flu has struck and I am laid low with a vast pile of new CDs to choose from. What will I pick first? Well, first was Paul Agnew singing Purcell songs; yet another Purcell song disc for my collection, but no one can have too many such discs. Agnew sings very well indeed; the three accompanying instruments are excellent (Elizabeth Kenny et al) and a special note for the recording quality; one notices right from the start the excellent balance between the four participants and the excellent "space" around the music. I like Purcell.

Second was Chloë Hanslip's new CD of Hubay (Naxos) that comes with a special "glamour" outer cover of the podgy Chloë (presumably paid for by her mother, since Naxos does not usually push young flesh). Once discarded and binned, the tasteless outer sleeve reveals a normal CD inside with a cover picture of Jenö Hubay; much more appropriate, given that he composed all the music on the disc. Hubay was not a great composer, but he wrote some attractive late-romantic music. Ms Hanslip plays very well and partly makes up for the tacky outer sleeve. At least she habitually gives us Hubay, Bazzini, et al and not yet more Mendelssohn, Sibelius, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Brahms and the other usual suspects.

A big pat on the back for Brilliant Classics for Volume I of its promised complete Handel cantata series. Prices are eminently sensible (ie, low) for these CDs. The performances of the first four cantatas conducted by Marco Vitale, with Contrasto Armonico and Stefanie True are excellent. Vitale uses a compromise "Roman pitch" of A=392, and this gives an attractive mellow sound without the screeching and rasping that often characterises "baroque" performances.

Ms True is Canadian, and although her Italian sounds accurate, she does not relish individual words in the way a native Italian speaker would. A pity; but at least she sings prettily and in tune. It is a problem with vocal music that no one sings it quite like a native-speaker does. Anyway, a very minor flaw in a superbly recorded, performed and sung CD.

Opus Kura has issued new transfers of George Enescu's 1929 studio recordings of Corelli, Chausson, Kreisler, Pugnani and Handel, together with a 1950 recording of him playing his own third sonata (with Célingy Chailley-Richez). These 1929 Enescu recordings (almost the only ones he ever made, in his prime) are a whole master class in the art of violin playing and illustrate why the voice, the piano and the violin have triumphed over all other musical instruments when it comes to repertoire and popularity.

With Enescu, we hear incredible right arm techniques, truly magnificent trills, a highly sophisticated range of vibrato, the ability to paint with a broad palette of colours, the ability to combine rubato with firm rhythmic control. Corelli's La Follia variations illustrate almost every aspect of a violinist's art -- and also show you do not need to indulge in baroque follies in order to play 18th century music with no excesses of 19th century romanticism.

I expected Enescu in 1950 to sound well past his prime (he was partly crippled with a spinal disorder). But his playing of his own third sonata, despite the obstacles, is still better than anyone else I can think of. It is really tragic that the recording industry did not fight to record Enescu during the 1926-33 period; we have very few performance souvenirs of this great violinist.

Two Christians; two Joachims .... a CD sent to me by a friend seemed to have things in common. Joseph Joachim's first (Op 3) violin concerto is played by Thomas Christian in a recent off-air broadcast (WDR). Joaquin Rodrigo's Concerto d'Eté is an old recording by Christian Ferras (with Ataulfo Argenta).

But there the similarities end. In truth, Joseph Joachim's first violin concerto is a pretty stodgy and uninspired work. Thomas Christian sounds like an accurate player, but he is neither inspired nor inspiring. The work drags on and sounds like many dutiful violin concertos that have never survived the test of time.

Joaquin Rodrigo's violin concerto came like a welcome draught of clear spring water. The concerto is immediately attractive, with good thematic material. Moreover, Ferras communicates a love of the work and his playing (in 1953) is charismatic. Ferras might even have been able to breathe life into Joachim's first concerto ...

There is a strange symmetry between the lives of Christian Ferras and Michael Rabin. Both were truly first-class violinists. Both had an enthusiasm and joie de vivre in their playing. Both sprang on the world in the early 1950s. Both reached their zeniths in the early 1960s. Both fell to earth in the 1970s, one the victim of alcohol, the other of narcotics. On this current CD, it is good to have the playing of Ferras in the Rodrigo concerto preserved.

James Ehnes's Violin Playing

Perplexing CD of James Ehnes playing short pieces on a variety of old Italian instruments (CD kindly supplied by Lee). Perplexing because Ehnes scores 10/10 as regards violin playing -- intonation, bowing, fingering, intelligence, style. No faults; not one.

Violinists such as Kreisler, Rabin, Heifetz, Elman, Kogan ... and now Jansen, Ibragimova, Josefowicz, Kavakos, et al -- bring to their playing a mixture of warmth, affection, emotion, love, exuberance, grace, style and charm == either as regards their violins, or the music: or both. For me, Ehnes' playing -- like that of past maestros such as Kubelik and Prihoda -- is devoid of emotional involvement. "A" for violin playing; "A" for musical intelligence; "C" for emotional involvement, that magic Ingredient "X" that transforms marvellous performances into great ones. Emotional involvement is often present in recordings; one has only to think of Leila Josefowicz's searing performance of Shostakovitch's first violin concerto (2006), or Lara St. John's recent recording of the Bach unaccompanied sonatas and partitas. But it ain't present in Ehnes's current recital.

Whether I favour Bach or Handel seems to depend on which one I listened to last. What is certain is that their music is as different as chalk from cheese. At the moment, I am in a Bach mood, having just finished listening to four cantatas on Sigiswald Kuijken's latest disc. As usual, Kuijken's instrumental ensemble is excellent and prominent; there is no choir, with the chorales being taken by the four soloists. The soloists are mainly excellent, with the bass, Jan Van der Crabben being especially good, and the tenor, Christoph Genz, being a bit weedy.

The weekend's food is again my usual range of mussels, squid and crab, supplemented with a little ham and saucisson. Wine is usually the extraordinarily good 2006 Gigondas red (La Ferme du Mont) that I bought from Cirencester.

Good ear-friendly CD from the Bulgarian Svetlin Roussev and the Russian Elena Rozanova playing Franco-Belgian music. Hard to say anything new about César Franck's sonata or Ysaÿe's third sonata. But I enjoyed hearing again Saint-Saëns's Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso. Also an entirely new six minute piece -- an Andantino Quietoso by Franck that I have never heard before. Violinists should take it up as a alternative to the hackneyed Méditation from Thaïs or the crumby Banjo & Fiddle. It probably never made it to the established short-piece list because, at six minutes, it was too long for a 78 rpm side during the vital recording period 1905-50. "Too long, Monsieur Franck".

Roussev plays well, and Rozanova is a highly intelligent player; when I make my long-delayed Carnegie Hall début, I'll choose Rozanova as my partner.

Back from Spain, with a big pile of unlistened-to CDs awaiting me. Of course, I made a beeline for Sandrine Piau singing Handel oratorio arias. A highly satisfactory CD; lovely music, lovely voice, excellent accompaniment (Accademia Bizantina). Handel's music is truly wonderful, and neither German, English nor Italian.

Not so Sergei Rachmaninov; he may have been a wandering cosmopolitan from necessity, but his music is 100% 24 carat Russian. I followed up Handel with Rachmaninov's The Bells (Evgeni Svetlanov from the late 1970s). I have never heard it before, but will listen to it again with interest and pleasure.

Against the oddds, I find myself enjoying Renaud Capuçon's new CD very much indeed. The tempi in the Korngold violin concerto and the Beethoven violin concerto are all slow -- with little exception. Not usually favoured by me. And Capuçon's tone is unfailingly sweet -- a kind of 1909 Kreisler mixed with Heifetz mixed with Itzhak Perlman. Not usually favoured by me. But Capuçon convinces in both works -- how, I don't really know. He plays so well, he sounds so lovely, he is so intelligent. I will re-listen to these works. In the Beethoven he plays the inevitable Kreisler cadenzas, even though there are plenty of alternatives. The Rotterdam Philharmonic under Yannick Nézet-Séguin sounds almost like the Vienna Philharmonic. Perhaps it's all a trick of the recording engineers. Whatever: a good disc.

The violin concerto by Benjamin Britten has had a chequered history. The first recording was in 1948 (Theo Olof), after which it more or less languished for around fifty years, with sporadic performances, and recordings more as a filler than a central work. It is a dark concerto, anguished and multi-layered; and highly impressive, much more so than the slick Walton concerto. Gradually, however, it is coming into its own with recordings by Mark Lubotsky, Vengerov, Mordkovich, Frank Peter Zimmermann ... and now Janine Jansen.

Ms Jansen is a superb player of this work. She obviously loves it, and plays it often (I also have an off-air recording of her playing it a few years ago). She dominates the work and plays it from "inside", giving the impression she knows exactly what she is doing, and why. And, to boot, she is a fine violinist playing on a fine 1727 Strad. A three star performance of what I am rapidly concluding is a much-neglected three star concerto. Britten is not one of my preferred composers (as with Mahler, I just like bits and pieces of his output). But this is my kind of concerto.

I have now listened to all six solo sonatas and partitas of Bach played by Alina Ibragimova. The fast movements are entrancing ... many of the doubles in the B minor partita, the finale of the third sonata, the Prelude of the third partita. In the slower movements (such as the first movement of the third sonata) the baroque violin sound whines and rasps a little; violins do not sound at their best playing long notes with no vibrato. However, grouches about the current "original instrument" fad aside, this is a truly excellent set of the Bach works. Ibragimova's technique is exemplary, her bow dashes and darts, her dynamics are beautifully varied from a true pianissimo to occasional fortissimi, and she evokes a myriad of colours. And, very importantly, she plays the music as if she really enjoys it; there is none of the solemnity one gets with players such as Julia Fischer or Johanna Martzy. Ibragimova dances her way through these six works.
The boys' voices / white tone movement seems to have been vanquished when it comes to baroque vocal works. Maybe there is hope for the violin yet. Anyway, Ibragimova goes into the top three. Hyperion's recording is excellent.

In strict Moslem societies, women -- even pretty women -- are obliged to cover themselves in public with some variety of burka. In the modern musical world, violinists -- even pretty young violinists -- who want to play or record Bach in public are obliged to chose a dry sound with no vibrato. It is not surprising that when Kreisler, followed by Elman and Heifetz, burst upon the world with warm vibrato, the old order of non-vibrating violinists was swept away pretty quickly.

In her new recording of the complete Bach unaccompanied partitas and sonatas (Hyperion) Alina Ibragimova sounds as though she is playing on a somewhat harsh violin. No warming vibrato anywhere. Which is a shame (and Johann Sebastian Bach would probably have thought so too). It's the current fashion, Herr Bach. It's a double shame, since Ms Ibragimova is a very considerable violin talent indeed. Unlike her rivals such as Hilary Hahn, Julia Fischer, Joshua Bell, et al she eschews major publicity. She just plays the violin, very well indeed. I remarked before (17 February) how I was amazed to enjoy someone playing Bach's B minor partita; the music is good quality professional rather than inspired, but Ibragimova has you hanging on to every note. Remarkable, even with the dry, wirery sound of a baroque violin. So far I've only listened to the first sonata and first partita in the new set. I have little doubt, however, that I'll love all six works, despite the violin sound. Here's hoping the sound fashion changes while Ms Ibragimova is still in top-flight form, as here.

A little disappointed with my new "Trout" Quintet played by Martin Helmchen, Christian Tetzlaff, et al. The brook in which this little fish swims is too crystal clear for my liking. I prefer Schubert with a little Viennese warmth to him -- the sort of thing Kreisler would have brought to the music had he ever recorded it. That will teach me to pay attention to all the critics, who thought the Helmchen performance the best thing since sliced bread. I'll go back to some of the classics: Schnabel and the Pro Arte Quartet, or the Vienna Octet, or to my recent much-liked recording with the Capuçon brothers and Frank Braley.

This evening: the first of my Thai fish soups of the season!

Given my love of much late Romantic music, it is strange that it has taken me around 55 years to connect with César Franck's symphony. After 55 years, I only have two recordings of the piece, both acquired "accidentally" as part of compilations. Beecham's 1940 public performance comes in a large, cheap box. And Giulini's 1957 performance comes as part of a two CD Giulini "profile".

At any rate, I have discovered Franck's symphony at last! It is glorious music and, to my mind, much preferable to all the Mahler and Dvorak symphonies that are churned out endlessly, even if the first five minutes sounds like a note-for-note crib from Die Walküre. I cannot recall noticing Franck's symphony on a symphony concert programme (though doubtless it must be played sometimes, somewhere). Giulini's performance sounds good to me, and it's nice to be reminded what a good orchestra the Philharmonia was back in 1957.

Well, my eleven hour retrospect of Fritz Kreisler the violinist is over. Even when the music is not to my taste (the finale of Beethoven's Kreutzer sonata, for example) there is plenty of compensation in listening to Kreisler's vioin playing, to his sense of rhythm and rubato, and to his sound, which is sweet without being cloying. A CD set to keep; every violinist ought to be issued with one, since they could learn more from listening to Kreisler than from years of lessons and master classes with well known figures. Interesting that Kreisler never had a formal violin lesson after the age of twelve -- much like Nathan Milstein and Albert Sammons.