When listening to Classical, take time to read the synopsis, here, to understand the story line and the background. Carmen Fantasy should possess the Gypsy characteristics with the following movement with adagio, moderato finish off with allegro.
This CD featuring Sarah Chang, violinist, Placido Domingo conducting Berliner Philharmoniker. When did Placido start conducting? Fire and Ice was recorded in Berlin in 2001 when Sarah was only 20, she has matured progressively from her earlier albums, Debut (1992), recorded when she was only 9. Well regarded as a child prodigy, she is the modern violinist to watch. Life must be tough on her as many prodigy never destined to rise into the stardom due to pressure and high expectation. Some promising talents commit suicide for that.
As I compare Debut to her Fire and Ice, well, you will find Sarah in Debut (1992) is an unpolished diamond, crude. I never care for her Debut. I first watch her perform Carmen Fantasy in Youtube. Here is the link. Awesome! Technical command, phrasing, artistry at a very high level. I am not good enough to claim it was a flawless performance but I thoroughly enjoy it. Trust me! I have listened to many on Youtube, this is by far the best, IMO. Too many impart too much romanticism on this work I think it is not correct. Dude! Sarasate would want it to be fast and furious.
Listening to Sarasate makes your heart pumps, as a result, it takes me an hour or so to calm down for bed. Now, if you are old and lack imaginative mind, you'll know Sarasate is good for you to get the job done!
I compared Sarah to Itzhak, Itzhak's romantic phrasing helped by his Strad, is a little too much for me. Tempo is slower than normal, less Gypsy-ness especially at the closing, a lit lackluster. Recording quality of Itzhak CD supercedes Sarah's. Audiophiles would prefer Itzhak. Thus, it is wrong to generalize a great violin virtuoso can play all repertoires equally well.
Now that Itzhak Perlman has passed his prime, I keep a close watch on Sarah because she is up there if not the best in her peer group. I find her works move me. At 30, Sarah is in her prime now. I hope that she will not cut back on her recordings after finding someone and start a family. What kind of works she is known for? I know the answer but if you are interested, it is time for you to go find out.
Recording was done in Berlin. Now you got a first tier Berliner Philharmoniker, gifted Sarah Chang and the very good recording quality, a blessing to audio. Mine is 2001, first pressing, made in EU. Go grab a copy.
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