Renowned as the teacher of Christian Ferras and Jean-Jacques Kantorow at the Paris Conservatoire, René Benedetti was one of the great French violinists at the beginning of the 20th century. A close friend of influential group of composers known as Les Six, Benedetti gave the premiere of Darius Milhaud’s Cinéma-fantaisie on his Brazilian-influenced ballet Le Boeuf sur le toit. Besides numerous works by Les Six, Benedetti also gave the French première of Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire (translated into French and conducted by Milhaud), Satie’s Socrate and Stravinsky’s Mavra. Benedetti was the first French violinist to play the complete Paganini Caprices and Bach solo Sonatas and Partitas in concert (he published his own editions of these seminal works), and founded a piano trio with pianist Joseph Benvenuti and cellist André Navarra, known as the Trio B.B.N..

This CD contains a sampling of the violinist’s best recordings made for Columbia in the late 1920s, as well as the premiere recording of Milhaud’s Cinéma-fantaisie on his Brazilian-influenced ballet Le Boeuf sur le toit which includes a brilliant solo violin cadenza by Arthur Honegger. Benedetti’s rare recording of Paganini’s Concerto no.1 is highly regarded by violin enthusiasts and rcord collectors. Made for the Pathé Compay in occupied France during the Second World War, it is prized for its dazzling playing and Benedetti’s brilliant cadenza. Also included on this CD are two pieces by the Czech violinist Karel Zoubek; Zoubek’s Deux Minutes de Jazz – with its nod to Stéphane Grappelli – is quite simply one of the most delightful violin recordings ever made.