Heifetz

Heifetz Rediscovered. Jascha Heifetz, violinist; various pianists.

Recorded 1922-36. (RCA Victor 09026-63907)

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What treasures lurk in the vaults of record companies. The latest example comes from the RCA archives, where a good hour's worth of previously unreleased material featuring Jascha Heifetz, perhaps history's greatest violinist, has been uncovered and put on disc.

Just for the sake of propriety, it must be noted that these recordings were never approved by Heifetz, who apparently felt they were not up to his super-human standards. But enough of the ethics. On with the music. (Besides, the Heifetz estate cooperated in this release.)

The big news here starts with two substantial sonatas - No. 1 in G major by Brahms, No. 3 in C minor by Grieg. Collectors have known only of a single, abridged movement from the Grieg piece; this first release of a complete performance, recorded in 1936, provides ample evidence of the fiddler's mastery of technique, form and style. This is supremely romantic playing - open-hearted, yet never sticky sweet; dramatic, yet never heavy or blatant. Things are just as memorable in the Brahms work, which is infused with an inner warmth.

Rounding out the collection are short items recorded in the 1920s, including an exquisitely molded arrangement of Lensky's Aria from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin and a deliciously lyrical approach to an arrangement of Bach's Sicilienne that would drive today's historical performance practice fanatics crazy.

Three bravura showpieces are here, too, providing plenty of dazzle. And, just for good measure, there's also a touch of Heifetz the animated piano player in a light-hearted keyboard duet of a Spanish song with Isidor Achron.

For longtime Heifetz fans and for those who don't yet know what the Heifetz fuss is all about, this recording is a must.

Skala

Voices Through Time: Works of Brahms and Schubert. Emily Skala, flutist; Norman Krieger, pianist.

(Summit Records DCD 324)

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Flute music by Brahms? Of course he didn't write any, other than the fabulous flute solos in his orchestral works. But flutists have never been shy about raiding music originally intended for other instruments in an effort to expand the flute repertoire, and in Brahms' two sonatas of Op. 120, they have struck gold. Those sonatas, written for clarinet or viola and piano, make the transition to flute and piano in remarkably persuasive fashion in arrangements prepared in 1970 by Hanoch Tel-Oren.

They might not sound so convincing in less stylish performances. The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's principal flutist, Emily Skala, brings such conviction and sensitivity to these sonatas - not to mention superb articulation and intonation - that it's easy to forget all about their initial context.

You might expect the inherently bright quality of the flute to work against music that sounds so darkly beautiful when played on clarinet or, especially, viola. But the subtle, prismatic glow of Skala's tone and, above all, the deep warmth of her phrasing matches just about anything those other instruments can achieve in these works. This is nowhere more apparent than in her account of the Andante of the F minor Sonata, with its bittersweet, steadily measured tread.

In between the Brahms pieces is a lovely performance of Schubert's Theme and Variations on 'Trockne Blume,' a masterwork that really was written for flute and piano.

Throughout, pianist Norman Krieger proves to be a sympathetic partner, matching Skala's flair for spinning song-like phrases and making the most of dynamic contrasts.

Martins

Joao Carlos Martins: For the Left Hand. Music by Ravel, Scriabin, Saint-Saens, Bach.

(Labor Records LAB 7033)

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Piano fans are rarely neutral about Joao Carlos Martins. The Brazilian pianist does not conform to prevailing tastes - or to expectations. His monumental project of the complete keyboard works of Bach on 19 CDs, finished in 1998, contains many an interpretation that demonstrates how confidently he can defy tradition. His tempos are sometimes wildly pushed or startlingly slow, his tone and phrasing sometimes overflow with expressive variety.

Adding to the impressiveness of that Bach project was the physical effort behind it. Martins, who has a history of physical troubles that interrupted his career periodically, was brutally beaten in a mugging before finishing the recordings. He managed to get back on track, but without full use of his right hand. Two years ago, that hand became atrophied. So Martins simply switched gears and started tackling the repertoire for left-hand piano music. And, with typical determination, he plans to record all of it.

This first release in the cycle offers an attractive sampling, starting with the Ravel Concerto, which receives a straightforward, strongly etched account and gets decent support from the Bulgarian National Symphony and conductor Boris Spassov. A Scriabin nocturne finds Martins occasionally pounding out notes inelegantly, but the closing measures are nicely shaded. Saint-Saens' Six Etudes pose technical challenges that the pianist meets ably; the Alla Fuga and Moto Perpetuo movements are articulated with particularly bold clarity.

Brahms' mighty left-hand transcription of Bach's Chaconne has Martins hammering again, pushing his tone too hard most of the time. He also misses the music's grandeur, especially at the end. Still, the intensity of his approach exerts an often effective pull.