AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE:
When I was an undergraduate composition major at Eastman back in the 70s, I remember hearing these performed in Kilbourn Hall by, I believe, Zvi Zeitlin. I was completely blown away by this hour-and-a-half long postmodern virtuoso extravaganza. I ran down East Main St to the Music Lover's Shoppe and bought the score, anxiously awaiting release of a recording.

30 years later, here it is. And what a recording! Rochberg's 1970 compendium holds up well after all these years, and violinist Skaerved, playing on Francois-Antoine Habeneck's 1734 Strad, handles the work's many terrors with appropriate style and gusto. These are 51 dazzling variations on Paganini's wellworn tune. There are guest appearances by Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, and Mahler; Webern and Offenbach pop in also, as well as Rochberg's Penn colleague, George Crumb. But the piece has an astonishingly convincing flow, and I actually never get the feeling of mere pastiche.

It's a thrill a minute, and it's outrageous enough to impress Paganini himself. This sort of thing is surely out of fashion now-a work like this can't have any effect in apathetic, ahistorical times-but I well remember its (liberating) effect back then, and I had a great time reliving it again now. Violinists will definitely want to hear this, and so will anyone interested in the music that helped set off the attempted overthrow of academic musical modernism.

The piece is 13 minutes too long to fit on one CD, so rather than sacrifice many repeats, Metier elected to append a second disc to hold the last six variations. I salute that decision, even though the composer allows the performer to make certain cuts if necessary. Lengthy, unfocussed notes by the violinist.
Allen Gimbel

GRAMOPHONE:
My first reaction to this CD was the shock of recognition. This was the violin which I remember Ralph Holmes playing, the 'Habeneck', put together by Stradivari in 1734 when he was 90. Its wonderfully rich response makes a major sixth sound like a four-part chord. Peter Sheppard Skærved was a pupil of Holmes and a worthy successor, as his playing here and elsewhere demonstrates.

His CD booklet goes into detail about his connections with Rochberg when playing the Caprice Variations, which were written in 1970 shortly before the composer turned away from modernism in works like the Third Quartet. The prospect of 90 minutes of unaccompanied violin is intimidating but, wince Rochberg is working within traditions from Bach to Mahler, the whole apparatus of tonality is in operation for 41 out of 50 variations. There are connections with Beethoven, Brahms and Bach as well as Mahler and early Webern. For example, Variations 21 takes off from the finale of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, of which Rochberg said: "there is more sheer vitality per square measure... than in any number of pieces by major composers of our own time."

Then there is the Paganini theme itself, which has been the basis for variations by composers as different at Lutoslawski and Andrew Lloyd Webber. We hear it briefly at the end and are left wondering if that was what the previous 90 minutes were about. In fact the previous five variations were dissonant but the first 17 were blandly diatonic: 18 was a shock with high shrieks which came back in 35.

Finally, the performance is so compelling that interest never wavers; the recording is fine; and it doesn't matter where the music came from since this magnificent instrument enjoys every note.
Peter Dickinson

THE STRAD:
American composer George Rochberg was a pupil of Gian Carlo Menotti and though his early style was heavily influenced by Serialism, in the 60s and 70s he declared the methods too limiting and his language became more focused on tonal idioms with overlaid chromaticisms.

Here the ever-resourceful Peter Sheppard Skærved plays Rochberg's epic 51 Caprice Variations for solo violin, composed in 1970. This quirky, witty, beautiful and often bewildering 90-minute work - based on Paganini's famous theme - bears a hotchpotch of different influences, with variations making reference to composers from Brahms to Schubert, Mahler to Webern. A more coherent introduction from Sheppard Skærved would have been helpful - his notes are often insightful but jet off at puzzling tangents rather than giving any sort of overview of the work...

His performance, however, is far more convincing, and apart from some tuning that is not quite true in the opening variations - never usually a failing of his - he gives a highly imaginative reading. Moments that particularly impress are the delicate sweetness of Variations 12, Andante con moto (after Brahms); the aching loveliness of the all-pizzicato, Bach-like Variation 14; and the amazing symphonic feel of Variation 44, Scherzo (after the Scherzo of Mahler Symphony no. 5). And with the brief statement of Paganini's theme - which appears at the end rather than the opening - the work's sense of shape and purpose feels brilliantly complete.
Catherine Nelson

MUSICAL POINTERS:
Peter Sheppard Skaerved has, somewhat belatedly, made the first complete recording of the Caprice Variations by George Rochberg (b.1918), in their original version for solo violin. Composed in 1970, they can be thought of as a 'short history of music', taking the most famous of Paganini's Caprices through its paces in styles of composers through the ages; Brahms especially important for Rochberg, who included his own transcriptions of five Brahms piano variations (Op.35, Books 1 & 2) on the same Paganini theme. Others are 'after' Beethoven Schubert and Webern, and there are numerous newly created character pieces.

Peter Sheppard Skaerved plays all 51 straight through, which makes for a long haul, needing a second CD to complete the project. He uses a Strad which belongs to the Royal Academy of Music, but I found that the close recording did not flatter the instrument.

The variations are better taken in shorter groups; the journey is an impressive one, and should certainly be explored by advanced violinists. some variations do appear to stretch the technique of even this admired and uncommonly versatile violinist, whose enterprising work with string quartet and a contemporary music ensemble based in Germany has earned my appreciation over the years; most recently the launch of a new Beethoven Explored series for Metier.

... some of the Variations seem rather hard going, with patches of slightly suspect intonation. Nonetheless, I have no hesitation in recommending it to advanced student violinists, and to those general listeners (not everyone) who enjoy unaccompanied violin playing at length.
Peter Grahame Woolf

LA FOLIA:
"Rochberg and Skærved unleash an avalanche of questions:
Did Rochberg write Caprice Variations for the solo violinist to study and play alone, to savor countless allusions from Bach to Ysaÿe, via Brahms, Beethoven, Webern, Kriesler, and Rochberg himself? Some quotations are explicit. Many are beyond the violin’s repertoire such as those concocted from Brahms’ Paganini Variations for piano. Mahler makes an inevitable appearance. The opening of Rochberg’s Third String Quartet (not completed until three years later) spikes the 18th variation, startling even those who know this American composer’s music and what he stands for.

How can an audience endure 50 variations (plus paraphrase) on the theme of Paganini’s 24th caprice? In a concert the whole series must be excruciatingly difficult to grasp. Imagine legions of fumbling concertgoers, their noses buried in program notes, pages shuffling constantly. Even the armchair listener is not immune. Skærved’s notes are detailed, describing most of the variations and the composer’s impressions upon hearing him play. Even with the booklet spread open and constant glances at the track counter, it’s easy to get lost.

Is the violinist, live, meant to tackle all 90 minutes in a single go? Right off the top, I have to say that Skærved sounds amazing. He’s playing the 1734 Habeneck Strad. Kudos to Metier’s David Lefeber for capturing the instrument and Skærved’s passionate playing. Skærved took two recording sessions. A single sitting would have been reckless, but might have captured the physical challenges. Skærved has actually programmed the whole expanse. His recollection suggests it was an intense and exhausting experience bordering on the religious. Gidon Kremer recorded a batch of 23 variations plus the theme (DG 415 484-2), and others have dipped into this monumental set: Michelle Makarski tried a few on ECM 1587 and ECM 1712, and Zvi Zeitlin tackled the whole shebang for Gasparo 1010. Several variations come off roughly, such as No. 41, allegedly a Webern take-off. Maybe the Strad doesn’t like Webern.

Paganini’s original appears at the end, absent customary repeats. The cycle closes abruptly, perhaps too late for many. Yet, this music could continue interminably. I’ve played it in the background, catching whiffs of Tchaikovsky or Dvorak as if Skærved and Rochberg are channeling composer’s scraps. These variations-on-variations have grown on me and it’s a treat to hear a Strad sound so good. It’s reassuring knowing that Skærved has tilted at windmills and won. I also picture “Uncle George” sitting in a rocker, spinning the same tales over and over, but with slight modifications at each go. The work’s appeal has grown on others: Eliot Fisk labored closely with Rochberg to transcribe the mammoth set for guitar (MusicMasters 67133-2).
Grant Chu Covell