Liebesfreud Liebesleid - Homage to Fritz Kreisler

Fritz Kreisler was a towering figure in the history of violin playing, but he also knew how to pen a tune, as demonstrated in his charming miniatures. Born in Vienna in 1875, he made his name as a violinist internationally at the turn of the 20th century but returned to Austria to serve his country in the First World War. He wrote mainly short pieces for his own programmes, in the vein of the great violinist-composers of the 19th century, including the exuberant “Liebesfreud” (Love’s Joy) and its musical opposite “Liebesleid" (Love’s Sorrow). But his oeuvre also included a host of musical pastiches in the styles of various Baroque masters, which he passed off as rediscovered manuscripts, and which were only later revealed to be Kreisler’s own work. Many of his most famous melodies appear on Deutsche Grammophon’s Homage to Fritz Kreisler, bringing together archival recordings from great violinists, including Kreisler himself, caught at the dawn of recorded sound, as well as his modern-day successors.