Milestones Of A Violin Legend

"His playing overcomes every possible difficulty ... With this concert, Kreisler has set a standard that will stand up to any comparison ... The Berlin recording is of unsurpassed intensity." British music critic and writer Norman Lebrecht wrote this, placing Kreisler's recording of the Beethoven Violin Concerto from 1928 among the "100 Milestones of the Century of the Record". A good enough reason to begin our collection with this recording. However, this evaluation could also apply to the other recordings heard here that were made in the 1920s, including sonatas with Sergei Rachmaninov as Kreislers piano partner. No less important, and also part of this collection, is his first complete recording of the complete Beethoven violin sonatas (1935/36). Fritz Kreisler was considered the highest paid violinist of his time. His performances are said to have been of a near hypnotic fascination. Anton Bruckner and Lo Delibes were his teachers, among others. At the age of twelve, he won the 1st Grand Prix of the Paris Conservatory. He was severely wounded during the First World War, spent many successful years in Berlin after his recovery, fled from the Nazis to the United States and became a cosmopolitan musician. The respect for his social commitment grew along with the admiration for him as an artist. Throughout his life Fritz Kreisler endeavored to give voice to people in need - especially children - and to alleviate their fate.