Sarasate: Eight Spanish Dances / Navarra

Violinist Alfredo Campoli performs compositional works by Pablo de Sarasate, accompanied by pianist Daphne Ibbott, as well as violinist Belinda Bunt for Navarra for 2 Violins. 'Campoli, who is excellently recorded, is on precisely the right wavelength, leaving us in no doubt of how difficult these works are to play and yet, paradoxically, making it all sound easy. Opus 23 No. 2, a zapateado and probably the least unfamiliar piece here, is a fine example, although so also is No. 2 of op. 21, a gracefully swaying habanera whose complex filigree is thrown off with the seeming casualness which is the essence of this sort of virtuosity. What is consistent throughout all nine items is the high, and memorable, quality of the melodies. Opus 22 No. 1, an Andalucian ballad, is fully of lovely tunes, as is the first piece of Op. 23, a playera, with it's sorrowful cadences. Occasionally, as in Op. 26 No. 1, a kind of fandango and the longest item here, this is done in the grand manner, yet never too much so. In the exhilarating Navarra Bunt matches Campoli well, and Ibbott is a good accompanist; but all the interest is in the violin throughout.' - The Gramophone Magazine