Forgotten Gems from the Heifetz Legacy

Banjo and Fiddle

     

I only bought the song "Banjo and Fiddle" from this album, as it is a piece I am currently working on. I also bought recordings of this piece from iTunes performed by Nigel Kennedy, Sarah Chang and Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg. With the exception of some of Salerno-Sonnenberg's questionable interpretations, Kloss' rendition is by far the worst of the four. She plays the piece far slower than any of the other three artists, but her technique isn't necessarily any cleaner. Even the slower middle section she takes slower than the others. Basically, she performs it at the tempo one would practice it to make sure they were getting all of the notes right. After listening to recordings from the other three, her performence is somnalescent. She ignores several dynamic markings, and in the 'precipitato' section of the slower part, she doesn't even really play what's written, reducing it instead to just a descending mess of spiccato.

If you're looking for a performance of this piece that's actually worth listening to, get Sarah Chang's recording.