Paul Makanowitzky · Violin Recitals 1961-1963 ∙ 2CD

June 2015 ∙ Audiophile Audition ∙ Gary Lemco ∙ Paul Makanowitzky plays Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, Strawinsky, Schönberg
Some collectors may recall the art of Stockholm-born Paul Makanowitzky (1920-1998) from work that he recorded with Vladimir Golschmann, but this gifted Nadia Boulanger, Jacques Thibaud, and Ivan Galamian prodigy left the active concert stage in 1967 in order to pursue exclusively a life of teaching. Makanowitzky maintained a controversial bow technique, weighty and prone to the long stroke, that defined his idiosyncratic sound. The concentration on speed and power, with nuances and fluctuations controlled by a developed stamina in the bow arm, made Makanowtizky’s tonal signature unique in much the same way that Tossy Spivakovsky’s unusual approach to the bow nut also created a recognizable aural image. Lastly, but not least, Makanowitzky embodied that self-effacing musical personality who totally subsumed his ego to the objective score before him, a manic literalist of the first order.
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July 2015 ∙ MusicWeb International ∙ Paul Makanowitzky plays Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, Strawinsky, Schönberg
This twofer is largely given over to a June 1961 recital from Ettlingen, and then augmented by part of a recital two years later before dipping into the archival waters of a Voice of America recording from the late 1940s. The major recital presents a programme of Beethoven, Schumann and Stravinsky. The two Beethoven sonatas establish Makanowitzky’s musical imperatives.The two men recorded a complete set of the Beethoven sonatas and the three Brahms sonatas for Lumen. Everything else is new to the violinist’s discography. With fine presentation these authoritative, powerful readings bring the Makanwitzky-Lee duo back for informed listening.
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August 2015 ∙ British Gramophone ∙ Rob Cowan ∙ Paul Makanowitzky plays Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, Strawinsky, Schönberg
Violinists Paul Makanowitzky (With pianist Noel Lee) and Lola Bobesco (With Jacques Genty) reveal themselves as exceptional players, tonally strong, musically committed, perceptive and technically at the top of their garne. Both offer Beethoven’s Seventh Sonata, Bobesco in the context of a Mozart/Beethoven programme, Makanowitzky alongside the Tenth Sonata as well as
works by Brahms, Schumann, Stravinsky and Schoenberg. A generally absorbing bunch of discs and there are many more
available from the same source.
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October 2015 ∙ MusicWeb International ∙ Paul Makanowitzky plays Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, Strawinsky, Schönberg
Makanowitzky’s tone is large-scaled, his bow arm drawing a powerful sonority. Expressive slides and position changes hardly feature at all in his playing. There are some barely perceptible suggestions in the slow movement of the Brahms Sonata but these devices don’t feature in any prominent way in his violinistic arsenal. His vibrato is fast and unvaried which, by its very nature, imposes some limitations on his tonal palette, and confers a one-dimensional element to his sound. Yet, again in the Brahms Adagio, his vibrato invests the double-stops with a vibrant singing quality, which is very persuasive. He was prepared to be audacious and take risks with his bowing, adding that extra ounce of brilliance, boldness and visceral excitement, particularly to the Stravinsky and Schoenberg works featured here. The 1960s radio recordings are in exceptionally fine sound. Meloclassic, as is the norm, offer excellent annotations, provided by Jerry Wechsler. Violin buffs will welcome this release, as the Makanowitzky/Lee partnership, certainly for me, seems to be a sympathetic and effective one.
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