Itzhak Perlman, Andre Previn - The Easy Winners & Other Rag-Time Music Of Scott Joplin (1975/2015) [Official 24-bit/96kHz]

This album of ragtimes by Scott Joplin, recorded in 1974, was Itzhak Perlman’s first foray beyond the classical repertory, at least on record. The departure proved a successful one and was to be the first of many other such adventures, which also included jazz with André Previn (volume 24) and Oscar Peterson, recordings of Yiddish folk music (volume 38) and film music. In the tradition of his great predecessors, foremost among them Fritz Kreisler and Jascha Heifetz, Perlman supplied the arrangement for violin and piano himself, remaining faithful to the composer’s style while exploiting the classical violin’s rich palette of colours. His partnership with André Previn, who accompanied him on the piano, always retained a classical perspective, while still allowing for a measure of stylistic freedom.
As Perlman himself revealed, the ornamentations added by the two performers varied from session to session as the pieces were recorded. Ragtime began life as the preserve of the piano, but in Joplin’s time travelling violinists would often join in with string ensembles known as “Serenaders”, made up of violinists, guitarists, mandolin players and double bassists. They would play ragtime in the street in the towns where their travels took them and happily accepted invitations to perform in people’s homes… (Read full note in the booklet - on English/French/German).