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The current crop of young violinists includes more than the usual num‑
ber evidencing impressive accomplishment and extraordinary potential.
Tedi Papavrami, 22 years old and a recent laureate of the Sarasate International Violin Competition, would seem to be high in contention among them, even though these two discs do not manifest the extent or musical depth of his repertoire. In the `Meister' CD his performance of Ravel's Tzigane reveals facility of the highest order, a warm tone coloured by a variety of vibrato speeds, big-scaled musicality and positive glimmers of a personal style. Fauré's Sonata no.1 displays a developing sense of suavity and highly expressive phrasing, Reboul providing admirable collaboration. But it is in the Paganini Caprices that the full extent of Papavrami's virtuosity is exhibited: no.24 (erroneously listed as no.22) in the Auer (uncredited) transcription with piano; no.6, the tril1tremolo étude; and the cruelly challenging no.4. These Caprices are as clear and brilliant as any I have heard since those recorded by Michael Rabin.
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Tedi Papavrami: outstanding virtuosity
However in Bach's Chaconne, instead of an organ-like opening theme and overall grand conception, Papavrami's performance is riddled with clipped phrasing and burdened with an academic delivery, à la Mullova.
His Paganini/Sarasate CD, recorded when he was 19, is a cornucopia of bravura gymnastics and stylistic ingenuities featuring Paganini's `Nel cor più non mi sento' Variations, a dazzling Moto Perpetuo, and Caprices nos. 1,2,5,9 and 18 (the last particularly out- standing). The Sarasate comprises Zapateado, Habanera, Caprice Basque, Ziguenerweisen and the last three variations of the Carmen Fantasy, including an immaculate final movement, stunning in its speed and clarity. Trois Dans
es Albanaises, a delightful, idiomatic pastiche by Alexander Pesci, lends added zest to the disc. HENRY ROTII |
