Put on this 1954 all-Paganini recital from the Library of Congress and you'll be awestruck at the sheer musicality, proportion, and taste behind Zino Francescatti's staggering technical command of his violin. His intense vibrato never veers off the correct intonational mark, and even the fleetest scales, runs, and roulades are purposefully articulated, never sketchy. Then there's his amazing palette of bow strokes and slides, effortless double-stops, skips, and arpeggios. In the D major concerto's third movement, for example, as you listen to the double-stop harmonics you sense that Francescatti knew exactly how they would sound before he played them. Although the violinist follows the now-antiquated practice of adding piano accompaniments to both the concerto and the selection of Caprices, Artur Balsam's full-bodied, bedrock support proves much more than mere accompanying. In short, Paganini's music seldom has been so lovingly and intelligently served, and the archival recording boasts ample bloom and presence for its time and place. An absolute must for violin fans.

--Jed Distler