Vivaldi: 12 Violin Concertos, Op. 8 / The Four Seasons

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Cat No: 8110297-98

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Release Date: 11 January 2004

Label: Naxos - Historical / Naxos Historical

Packaging Type: Jewel Case

No of Units: 2

Barcode: 636943129722

Genres: Classical

Composer/Series: VIVALDI

Description
Great Violinists: Louis Kaufman: VIVALDI: Twelve Concertos for Violin and Strings, Op. 8The American violinist Louis Kaufman wasundoubtedly among the most recorded violinists of thiscentury. In a career that spanned nearly seven decades,he made over 150 major recordings of his classicalrepertoire, and was heard as concertmaster in over fivehundred movie soundtracks between 1934 and 1948,including Gone With The Wind (1939), Show Boat(1936), Modern Times (1936), Dodsworth (1936),Wuthering Heights (1939), The Magnificent Ambersons(1942), Intermezzo (1939) and The Treasure of SierraMadre (1948).Born in Portland, Oregon in 1905, Kaufman's earlystudies were with Frank Eichenlaub and HenryBettman. By the age of ten, he was travelling on theWestern Pantages Vaudeville Circuit as assisting artistto the dancer Rozika. In 1918 he went to New York Cityto enter the violin class of the renowned teacher FranzKneisel (1865-1926) at the Institute of Musical Art.During the 1920s Kaufman took up the viola and oftenplayed chamber music at private parties with Elman,Casals, Hofmann, Zimbalist, Heifetz and Kreisler. In1927 he graduated from the Institute of Musical Artwith highest honours, winning the Loeb Prize; thefollowing year he won the famed Naumberg Award. Inthe same year (1928), he made his New York CityTown Hall debut, which launched his solo concertcareer that would last nearly fifty years. An originalmember of the Musical Art String Quartet (as violist),he toured with that group in the United States and Italyfrom 1926 to 1933. Relocating to the West Coast in1933, Louis and his new wife Annette (Leibole), anaccomplished pianist, settled in Los Angeles (1934).The Kaufmans began broadcasting weekly recitals inLos Angeles over Station KFI and were heard by movieproducer Ernst Lubitsch, who engaged him to recordviolin solos for the movie The Merry Widow (1934); itwould be the first of many assignments in Hollywood.Interestingly, Kaufman's recorded legacy goes as farback as the 1920s, when he made his first recording forthe Gennett and Edison labels. This romance with themicrophone would continue on an additional 27 labelsthrough the 1970s. In 1948 the Kaufmans moved toEurope, making Paris their home base. The next eightyears saw a multitude of performances includingpremi?â?¿res of violin concertos by Martinů (Concerto daCamera), Anthony Collins, Lars-Erik Larsson, HenriSauguet, Dag Wiren, Leighton Lucas, and Milhaud'sSecond Concerto and Concertino de Printemps underthe composer's baton. During this period Kaufman wasawarded the Grand Prix du Disque for his recording ofVivaldi's Four Seasons with the conductor HenrySwoboda. In 1950 he suggested to the Town Hall MusicCommittee in New York City a first USA VivaldiFestival to honour the composer's 275th birthday in twoconcerts. Through the years Louis Kaufman was mostsupportive of American composers. He recordedCopland's Violin Sonata with the composer at thepiano, works by Robert Russell Bennett, Samuel Barber
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