Description
Born in 1911, the Polish-born Bronislaw Gimpel was destined to be one of the outstanding violinists in the post-World War I era. With the advent of World War II, however, he emigrated to the US where he was invited by Otto Klemperer to be the concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Following his return back to Europe after the Second World War, Gimpel was especially appreciated in Britain, where he performed with all the major orchestras and broadcast frequently on the BBC. Gimpel was also an active chamber musician, most notably as lead violinist of the Warsaw Piano Quintet with Wladyslaw Szpilman, the pianist featured in the film The Pianist. This 2-CD set features five outstanding concerto performances by Gimpel, made in the mid-1950s, in their first appearance of CD. In addition to eloquent performances of the Beethoven and Tchaikovsky concertos, it features three virtuoso works: the Wieniawski Concerto No.2, Lalo's colorful Symphonie espagnole, and a stunning rendition of Wilhelmj's pungent arrangement of Paganini's Concerto No. 1.
