Itzhak perlman^various artists –

Complete rca & columbia

The first complete collection

In celebration of the great Israeli-American violinist’s 75th birthday, Sony Classical is proud to present the first-ever collection of Itzhak Perlman’s complete recordings for RCA and CBS/Sony in a single box set: 18 CDs spanning the years 1965 to 2012.

Itzhak Perlman has dominated the world of violin virtuosos for half a century. His TV appearances had already made him a household name in the US by the time he was 13. A few years later came his Carnegie Hall debut, then the prestigious Leventritt Award, followed by triumphant tours of Israel, North America and Europe between 1965 and 1968. By then he was an international celebrity and recognized “not just as the finest violinist of his generation but as one of the greatest musical talents to emerge since World War II” (leading string authority Tully Potter writing in the NEW GROVE).

And it was then that Perlman began his illustrious, virtually unparalleled career as a recording artist. His first sessions for RCA, accompanied by pianist David Garvey – with works ranging from sonatas by Handel, Leclair and Hindemith to showpieces by Paganini, Bazzini, Sarasate and Falla – took place in New York in 1965 but were not issued for nearly 40 years because the label felt concertos would make a more suitable commercial debut for the rising star. When an album of these pieces was finally released – as “Perlman Rediscovered”, in 2004 – it was hailed “an outstanding tribute to one of the great names among violinists of any age, as well as a remarkably varied and interesting recital in its own right” (ClassicsToday). These tracks are, of course, included in the new collection.

Perlman’s first concerto efforts for RCA – the Tchaikovsky, Sibelius and Prokofiev Second, with Leinsdorf and the Boston Symphony – were set down in 1966/1967 and released the following years as his recording debut. ClassicsToday acclaimed them in a recent reissue as “offering playing that is gutsy and shamelessly virtuosic, and with a sharper rhythmic focus than Perlman often achieved subsequently. The finale of the Sibelius remains a potent example of the playing’s youthful fire.” In 1969, Perlman recorded what was arguably one of the finest albums of his career, the two Prokofiev Sonatas (which he never remade), partnered by pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy at the beginning of their long and distinguished collaboration: “Delicate where needs be … and yet with a Heifetzian resilience that both sonatas willingly respond to … Perlman and Ashkenazy play with astonishing virtuosity” (Gramophone).

Itzhak Perlman’s work for American Columbia began in the mid-1970s and – apart from Bach and Vivaldi multi-violin concertos with Isaac Stern, Pinchas Zukerman and the New York Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta – cover a wide swath of chamber music with special partners: pianists Daniel Barenboim and Emanuel Ax, cellists Yo-Yo Ma and Lynn Harrell and guitarist John Williams. The Mendelssohn Piano Trios with Ax and Ma, first released in 2010, appear here for the first time in a Perlman collection (“…ensemble balance, clarity of inner part-writing, drama, lyricism, and phrase shaping of the highest order … I find these performances not just outstanding; I find them astounding” (Fanfare).

That other John Williams, the legendary composer for the silver screen, was Perlman’s collaborator in another medium, the movies: his two best-selling “Cinema Serenade” albums arranged and conducted by Williams, with Perlman featured in selections from such classic films as Modern Times, Gone with the Wind, The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Out of Africa, Cinema Paradiso, The Color Purple and, of course, the theme that Perlman memorably performed on the soundtrack of Williams’s Oscar-winning score for the Spielberg masterpiece Schindler’s List.

New to Perlman CD editions are two complete soundtrack albums: John Williams’s “elegant and thoughtful score” for Memoirs of a Geisha in which the violinist is joined by Yo-Yo Ma and to which Perlman “brings a magical and peculiarly oriental sound to his violin-playing” (Gramophone), and the music for Yimou Zhang’s Hero by Tan Dun: “Few composers today write more effective melodies for bowed strings” (Gramophone). And to round off this uniquely wide-ranging survey of the violinist’s musical passions and triumphs, in its first appearance in a Perlman collection, the artist is joined by golden-voiced cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot in Eternal Echoes, a highly praised album of liturgical and traditional selections which the violinist has affectionately described as “Jewish comfort music – everything that I recognize from my childhood is in this program.”

COMPLETE RCA & COLUMBIA Itzhak Perlman

Country of Pressing	US
Artist	Itzhak Perlman^Various Artists
Released	2020
Music Genre	Classical
Label	SONY MASTERWORKS
Condition	New
UPC	194397522723
SKU	al-194397522723

1.1 Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 63
1.2 Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 47
2.1 Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35, TH 59
2.2 Dvorák: Romance in F Minor, Op. 11, B. 39
3.1 Prokofiev: Violin Sonata No. 1 in F Minor, Op. 80
3.2 Prokofiev: Violin Sonata in D Major No. 2, Op. 94Bis
4.1 Lalo: Symphonie Espagnole, Op. 21
4.2 Ravel: Tzigane, M. 76 (Version for Violin ; Orchestra)
5.1 Paganini: Centone Di Sonate, Op. 64, Ms 112 (Sonata No. 1 in a Minor)
5.2 Paganini: Sonata for Violin and Guitar in E Minor, Op. 3, No. 6, Ms 27
5.3 Paganini: Sonata Concertata in a Major, Op. 61, Ms 2
5.4 Giuliani: Duo Concertante in E Minor, Op. 25 Grand Sonata"
5.5 Giuliani: Cantabile in D Major, Op. 17, Ms 109
6.1 Dohnányi: Serenade in C Major, Op. 10
6.2 Beethoven: Serenade in D Major, Op. 8
7.1 Bach, J.S.: Concerto for 2 Violins in D Minor, BWV 1043
7.2 Vivaldi: Concerto for 3 Violins in F Major, RV 551
7.3 Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante in E-Flat Major, K. 364
8.1 Chausson: Concerto for Violin, Piano and String Quartet in D Major, Op. 21
9.1 Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Major, Op. 78
9.2 Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 2 in a Major, Op. 100
9.3 Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 108
10.1 Mozart: Duo for Violin ; Viola in G Major, K. 423
10.2 Mozart: Duo for Violin and Viola, K. 424
10.3 Leclair: 6 Sonatas for 2 Violins, Op. 3, No. 4
11.1 Lubbock/Rosenbaum/Jones/Temperton: The Color Purple: Main Title
11.2 Gardel: Scent of a Woman: Tango (Por Una Cabeza)
11.3 Legrand: Yentl: Papa, Can You Hear Me?
11.4 Bacalov: Il Postino: Theme
11.5 Bernstein: The Age of Innocence: Theme
11.6 Williams: Theme (From "Far and Away")
11.7 Legrand: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg: I Will Wait for You
11.8 Previn: Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Theme
11.9 Williams: Sabrina: Theme
11.10 Barry: Out of Africa: Main Title
11.11 Bonfa: Black Orpheus: Manha de Carnaval
11.12 Williams: Main Theme (From "Schindler's List")
11.13 Morricone: Love Theme (From "Cinema Paradiso")
12.1 Raksin: Theme from "Laura" (1944)
12.2 Steiner: Theme from Now, Voyager (1942)
12.3 Chaplin: Smile from "Modern Times" (1936)
12.4 Rózsa: Love Theme from Lost Weekend (1945)
12.5 Young: St. Patrick's Day from the Quiet Man (1952) (Traditional)
12.6 Korngold: Marian ; Robin Love Theme from "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1938)
12.7 Hupfeld: As Time Goes By from "Casablanca" (1942)
12.8 Walton: Touch Her Soft Lips and Part (From "Henry V")
12.9 Young: Stella By Starlight from the Uninvited (1944)
12.10 Young: Theme from My Foolish Heart (1949)
12.11 Steiner: Tara's Theme (From "Gone with the Wind" 1939)
12.12 Newman: Cathy's Theme from "Wuthering Heights" (1939)
13.1 Tan Dun: Overture
13.2 Tan Dun: For the World
13.3 Tan Dun: Warriors
13.4 Tan Dun: Gone with Leaves
13.5 Tan Dun: Longing
13.6 Tan Dun: At Emperor's Palace
13.7 Tan Dun: In the Chess Court
13.8 Tan Dun: Love in Distance
13.9 Tan Dun: Spirit Fight
13.10 Tan Dun: Swift Sword
13.11 Tan Dun: Farewell, Hero
13.12 Tan Dun: Sorrow in Desert
13.13 Tan Dun: Home
13.14 Tan Dun: Above Water
13.15 Tan Dun: Snow
13.16 Tan Dun: Yearning for the Peace
14.1 Paganini: 24 Caprices for Solo Violin, Op. 1, Ms 25
14.2 Ben-Haim: Berceuse Sfaradite
14.3 Sarasate: Navarra, Op. 33
14.4 Handel: Violin Sonata in E Major, Op. 1 No. 15, HWV 373
14.5 Hindemith: Violin Sonata, Op. 11 No. 1 in E-Flat
14.6 Leclair: Violin Sonata, Op. 9 No. 3 in D
14.7 Bloch: Baal Shem: II. Nigun (Version for Violin ; Piano)
14.8 Falla: Spanish Dance No. 1 (From la Vida Breve)
14.9 Bazzini: La Ronde Des Lutins, Op. 25
15.1 Williams: Sayuri's Theme
15.2 Williams: The Journey to the Hanamachi
15.3 Williams: Going to School
15.4 Williams: Brush on Silk
15.5 Williams: Chiyo's Prayer
15.6 Williams: Becoming a Geisha
15.7 Williams: Finding Satsu
15.8 Williams: The Chairman's Waltz
15.9 Williams: The Rooftops of the Hanamachi
15.10 Williams: The Garden Meeting
15.11 Williams: Dr. Crab's Prize
15.12 Williams: Destiny's Path
15.13 Williams: A New Name... a New Life
15.14 Williams: The Fire Scene and the Coming of War Medley
15.15 Williams: As the Water
15.16 Williams: Confluence
15.17 Williams: A Dream Discarded
15.18 Williams: Sayuri's Theme and End Credits
16.1 Mendelssohn: Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 49
16.2 Mendelssohn: Piano Trio No. 2 in C Minor Op. 66
16.3 Mendelssohn: Songs Without Words, Op. 19, No. 1 Sweet Remembrance" - Andante Con Moto"
16.4 Mendelssohn: Songs Without Words, Op. 38, No. 2 - Allegro Non Troppo
17.1 Berditchever: A Dudele
17.2 Shenker: Mizmor L'dovid
17.3 Goldfaden: Shoyfer Shel Moshiakh
17.4 Schwartz: Romanian Doyne
17.5 Rosenblatt: T'filas Tal
17.6 Traditional: Yism'chu
17.7 Schloßberg: R'tzay
17.8 Traditional: Dem Trisker Rebns Khosid
17.9 Schorr: Sheyibone Bays Hamikdosh
17.10 Traditional: Kol Nidrei
18.1 Tchaikovsky: Sérénade Mélancolique, Op. 26, TH 56
18.2 Tchaikovsky: Valse-Scherzo, Op. 34, TH 58
18.3 Dvorák: Romance in F Minor, Op. 11, B. 39
18.4 Dvorák: 8 Humoresques, Op. 101, B. 187: No. 7, Poco Lento E Grazioso (Transcribed By Oscar Morawetz for Violin, Cello ; Orchestra)
18.5 Dvorák: Piano Trio No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 90, B. 166: "Dumky", V. Allegro
18.6 Dvorák: Slavonic Dances, Op. 72, B. 147: No. 2, Dumka. Allegretto Grazioso
18.7 Halvorsen: Passacaglia and Sarabande for Violin and Viola (With Variations on a Theme By Handel)
18.8 Walton: Canzonetta from Henry V
18.9 Williams: Air and Simple Gifts"