Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Partita pour violon n° 2 en ré mineur, BWV 1004

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847)
Concerto pour violon en mi mineur

Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
Sonate pour violon n° 2 en sol majeur

Kathleen Parlow, violon
Charles Adams Prince, piano
Ernest MacMillan, piano
CBC Symphony Orchestra
Geoffrey Waddington, direction

Pour connaitre la folle virtuosité de Kathleen Parlow, pas de meilleure piste que celle de ses légendaires gravures acoustiques. La théorie de pièce brèves gravées à l’aube de ses vingt ans rappelle par le brio de l’archet, l’ampleur du son, le contraste des registres – on croit une contralto chantant l’Air de Bach, et jusque dans les inflexions des phrasés entendre une vraie voix humaine – quel enfant prodige elle fut. Les faces se succédant y ajoutent une musicienne inspirée (les pianissimos infimes du "Chant de Veslmeny" d’Halvorsen), douée d’une fantaisie qui ne devait pas déplaire à Fritz Kreisler (son "Liebesfreud" est ici divin, jusque dans ses alternances de boutonnages et de déboutonnages). Tout est à thésaurises dans ses 78 tours où le charme le dispute à la poésie, ce violon diseur une fois entendu ne s’oublie plus. Fallait-il ajouter les documents de concerts plus tardifs ? En 1941 un Concerto de Mendelssohn la montre en petit son mais toujours aussi alerte. Courrez plutôt à la Seconde Partita de Bach où elle retrouve l’ampleur de sa sonorité, l’ardeur de son archet, et écoutez là aussi tardivement qu’en 1951 s’emparer de la Chaconne ! (Discophilia - Artalinna.com) (Jean-Charles Hoffelé)

The Canadian-born violinist Kathleen Parlow was one of the most exceptional violinists at the beginning of the 20th century. A brilliant child prodigy, who had performed before King Edward VII at Buckingham Palace at the age of 14, Parlow was a student of the legendary Leopold Auer, who was so enamored of her playing that he referred to her as ‘Mischa Elman in a skirt’. While a still a student, Glazunov, the director of the St Petersburg Conservatory, recommended that she give the Belgian premiere of his Violin Concerto. While still in her teens, Parlow’s performed with such legendary conductors as Thomas Beecham and Bruno Walter, and was the dedicatee of the Norwegian composer Johan Halvorsen’s Violin Concerto. Throughout the 1920s, Parlow gave several world tours, travelling as far afield as the Middle East, India, China, Korea and Japan. However, before she turned 30, she had had enough of life as a travelling virtuoso and decided to retire from giving concerts. She returned to Canada, and she made a career teaching until her death in 1963. This 2-CD release features all of the commercial recordings Parlow made for the HMV and American Columbia record labels. Her first records were made at the age of 19 for HMV in which she was guaranteed a special ‘artist royalty’ of 10%, a figure that matched what the company paid the famed coloratura soprano Luisa Tetrazzini. Parlow’s records for the Columbia Record Company in New York were made between 1912-16, and first brought out alongside those of none other than the legendary Eugene Ysaÿe.