James Ehnes
Violin
“When we now speak of the world’s finest young fiddlers we must surely add the name of this visionary Canadian. Throughout Ehnes’s playing glows. You get the feeling every time he puts bow to string that something special will, quite naturally, just happen.”
Gramophone, January 2010
James Ehnes' critically acclaimed recording of the complete Paganini Caprices on Onyx
Listen to James Ehnes' Paganini
Caprice No.1 in E (Andante):
Paganini Caprice No.5 in A minor (Agitato)
Paganini Caprices recording (Onyx)
“It was with his first recording of the Caprices that we discovered the prodigious talent of James Ehnes (Telarc, 1995). Following in the footsteps of a number of violinists who have recorded it a second time (Ricci, Accardo, Zehetmair), he repeats the feat and confirms the predictions of Erick Friedman, eminent student of Heifetz: “there is only one like him born every hundred years”. While with his first version we were impressed by his breathtaking fluidity and his impetuosity, this recording is another step in this quest for perfection. Perfect intonation, (absolute pitch in the octaves and tenths), like the articulation, (irreproachable balance in the staccato-like trills, clean pizzicatos with the left hand) evokes the same admiration as the legendary version of Michel Rabin (1958). Moreover, his power, no matter what the register, like the generosity of his sonority evokes this older version. Over time, Ehnes has moulded his ideas, refined his style. Without taking the aesthetic risks of the very audacious Thomas Zehetmair, he produced here what one imagines to be the best in terms of respect for the text. Drawing on the infinite resources of the sumptuous “1715 Marsick”, on loan from the Fulton Collection, he displays a range of timbres, incredibly voluptuous, transparent, and varied. In spite of the impact recently created by the visionary inspiration of Zehetmair, one remains transfixed in front of this version, certainly more classic, in particular for such a level of interpretation.”
Awarded the Diapason d’Or, Diapason Magazine, January 2010
“With this superlative set James Ehnes confirms the promise of recent discs (not least his Gramophone Award-winning Elgar Violin Concerto). When we now speak of the world’s finest young fiddlers we must surely add, alongside Fischer, Hahn et al, the name of this visionary Canadian.
There have been two exceptionally fine recordings of the Paganini Caprices already over the past nine months … by their side, Ehnes comes across as the visionary. As musical in his way as Becker-Bender (there is never the feeling of forcing for effects), as out there at times as Zehetmair (there is nothing safe and cost about this reading), he brings something extra, something special. It is as if he takes the listener by the hand and escorts them into his own private dream-world – sometimes delightful and enchanting, sometimes filled with pain. And the imagination of the man! In his hands the Caprice No. 6 breathes for all the world like an accordion and in its ebb and flow one can hear hope, regret, melancholy – and, I repeat, it never feels just like an effect.
Throughout Ehnes’s playing glows. You get the feeling every time he puts bow to string that something special will, quite naturally, just happen.”
CD of the month, Gramophone, January 2010
“Ehnes has recorded the Caprices before, in 1995, at the age of 19. Since then his view of the music hasn’t changed a great deal – the smoother, more subtly phrased chordal passages in No. 5 is a typical example of refinement of interpretation rather than a radical rething. There’s the same daring, bold approach, relying on exceptional technique to deliver an inner vision of each piece – no pauses or stretching of the rhythm to make awkward corners more manageable. What has changed is that Ehnes’s technique has got even better, the intonation more precise, the bow control more sensitive. And the new recording addas an extra degree of clarity so that the playing makes a more vivid impact.
The past year has been a bumper one for Paganini’s Op. 1 … but Ehnes is my clear recommendation. He really is a top-class violinist, and it’s a joy to hear such difficult pieces sounding so completely comfortable and unfettered.”
Editor’s Choice, Gramophone, January 2010
“[Ehnes] encompasses the prodigious demands with such apparent ease that we are almost persuaded that the pieces are not that challenging after all. Pages of double-stopping hold no fear for Ehnes, his bow dances over strings with utter precision and his left hand is seemingly incapable of creating a note of questionable intonation.”
The Strad Recommends, The Strad, January 2010
“All I can say is that this CD contains some of the most jaw-droppingly breath-taking violinistic fireworks you are ever likely to hear. This review will become a list of superlatives and I’ll be reaching for my thesaurus before long to find another word for extraordinary.
… one of Ehnes’ greatest triumphs is that he is able to focus on the musical impetus behind the notes because the technical hurdles that face the rest of us barely seem to bother him. In doing so he raises their musical stature greatly. … for sustained listening and a greater sense of the music as an organic whole I find Ehnes to be without equal.
He is magnificent in the Maestoso Caprice No.4 in C minor. … But it is probably the fast caprices that are the most immediately impressive. Here Ehnes just seems to have more time than other players. … Clarity with an extra side helping of clarity is what you get from Ehnes - the first time I heard [Caprice No.5 in A minor] I was astounded. The opening rising arpeggios and descending chromatic scales are miraculous in their articulation, intonation, even-ness and attack. When the music moves on into extended fast passagework the playing is faultless.
… Unlike some of the early caprices which focus on only one or two technical issues per caprice [Caprice No.24 in A minor - Tema con variazioni] is much more of a compendium. Again Ehnes is peerless in tying these different elements together and making a coherent whole as well as giving it a beautiful range of light and shade.
Yet the thing I take most from this album is not the supreme technical brilliance of the playing but the beauty of the music making it serves. Curiously, I still find this music hard to listen to in a single sitting, mainly because I find myself reeling from the unending challenges it presents … but I can honestly say that Ehnes has thrown light onto it in a way I have never heard before. …
A marvellous, amazing, stunning, spectacular, fabulous, awe-inspiring, fabulous - only half-way through the Microsoft office thesaurus but I’ll leave out cool and groovy - piece of music-making.”
Recording of the Month, CD Review, November 2009
“… James Ehnes has produced a superb version that nudges all others out of the limelight …
These studies in virtuosity might harbour every technical trick known to man – and maybe some known only to the Devil – but Ehnes has a rare sensibility to make music out of them.
…Ehnes recorded Paganini’s 24 Caprices for Telarc (80398) back in 1996, but here he revisits them with the experience of more than a decade, with new subtleties, fire, honed energy and a mature insight into the way that Paganini could captivate his audiences not merely with acrobatic feats but also with a liquid lyricism and a spectrum of dynamic shadings that gave his playing heart-stopping eloquence. You only have to listen to Ehnes in the slow sixth caprice in G minor, with its melodic line carried on a bed of shimmering trills, to appreciate that, far from being a mere finger-test study, the music has palpable shape and encapsulates poetic feeling. Elsewhere, as in the ninth caprice, Ehne’s full rounded tone and emphasis in the “hunting call” figuration are beautifully contrasted with ideas of delicate shading.
This is a wondrous set that shows Paganini end Ehnes as masters both of technique and expression.”
Classical CD of the week, The Telegraph, October 2009
“Ehnes has returned to these coruscating ‘finger-breakers’ … playing them with the same glowing tonal finesse as before, but with a new lyrical intensity that gives each piece its own special sense of musical identity. Whereas back in 2002 one was instinctively drawn towards his ringing octaves and seamless rapid-fire spiccato, this time he presents us with a series of poetic metaphors which help draw us into the purely musical experience. Typical of this change in emphasis is the quick-fire interfacing of leaping dotted semiquaver and triplet rhythms in the central Presto section of No. 11, which now possess an overtly playful, dancing character… He is also one of the very few players brave enough to take on the moto perpetuo semiquavers of No. 5 using Paganini’s original, merciless 3-plus-1 bowing patterns. Beguilingly player and expertly engineered, this deserves a place on anyone’s shortlist of the Caprices.”
BBC Music Magazine, December 2009
“No collection of virtuoso showpieces demands greater technical prowess than Paganini’s 24 Caprices. Yet James Ehnes, whose artistry suggests that in Paganini’s age he would have enjoyed similar stature to the great man, succeeds impressively in being more than merely thrilling. He realises that, extravagant though some of the music’s gestures are, this is not simply a high-wire act. Listen to his control of colour, dynamic and articulation in the Sixth Caprice, where Paganini achieves the illusion of a cantabile line accompanied by tremolando chords. It’s playing of phenomenal control, allied to musicianship of the highest order.”
The Times, October 2009
“James Ehnes returns to the works that launched his recording career in 1995.
[ …] Ehnes gives a performance that balances bel canto refinement with an almost Beethovenian heroism. Technically, this is faultless. The spiccato is crisp, the octaves dazzling. Even more impressive is the melodic sweetness.”
The Independent, October 2009
“To take the full measure of a violin soloist, you have to hear them play the unaccompanied Suites by J.S. Bach and a few of the Caprices by the first violin superstar, Nicolò Paganini. The magic is not just about playing the notes; it's finding the music contained in the big piles of them on every page of the score. Here, Canadian powerhouse James Ehnes shapes three full volumes of Paganini's Caprices into gorgeous musical sculptures that will give you goosebumps. Ehnes jumps the huge technical hurdles as if they were a stroll on the beach. There is power in his bow, but also remarkable shading; this is not just music to knock your socks off – it has a full, multi-coloured range of moods. Wow.”
4 stars (out of 4), Toronto Star, November 2009
“When violinists attain a certain level of musicianship and record the Paganini Caprices, it would be safe to assume that they can now be described as masters of their instrument. So what would be an appropriate description when they record those virtuoso pieces a second time? Well in the case of James Ehnes, I wouldn't hesitate to describe him now as a wizard of the violin.
[Ehnes] brings to us not only an amazing display of technical wizardry, but also sheds light on the melodic lines within each piece, and therefore exposes the core, or genesis of each one. […]
A few of this violinist's recordings have already received various accolades and awards, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if this one attracted the same kind of response.”
Classical Music Sentinel, November 2009
Back to Top