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The Paganini violin concertos are above all else an exhibition of artistic effects. But when they are played, as Ingolf Turban does, with all piquant bravado and wit and taste, then they are musical fun... He played the concertos with a very taut and steely tone which was able to elicit a smile, even considering the indescribable wizardry of technique. One could not miss hearing how Paganini understood Rossini´s artistry with song He had fused some of this artistry into the parts for violin, as was brought out by Ingolf Turban through his ever elegant, glitteringly clear, and supremely singing production of tone. And to top it all, Turban´s playing of Paganini lacked neither a drew-like fresh fantasy of sound nor an extraordinarily playful vigor. And thus one could enjoy these concertos of that satanic violinist enveloped by legend. We naturally listen to music today differently from the public of Paganini´s time. But we must be aware of the circumstances of that time, and have an ear for relationships. The need is all the more for a rational stance that is equally joyful and anxious. Smiling is only one aspect of Paganini. When our senses fade while facing the bravura, so do our hearing and sight dim before the tremendous plunges that this music conceals within itself, from heaven to earth and then out again to the infinite. The only comparison can be with Chopin at the piano. He performed such plunges, from so soft as to be barely audible to abrupt change of touch. There is eloquent testimony that bears this out. Ingolf Turban, in his attempt to revive the characteristics of happening for the Paganini concertos wants to do justice to both of these dimensions.
