This “throwback” recording of the kinds of recitals performed by the great violinists of the early 20th century — Heifetz, Gingold, Kreisler — shows the violinist Elmar Oliveira performing a variety of crowd-pleasing light fare, such as Heifetz’s transcriptions of Gershwin, showpieces by Sarasate and Paganini, and a variety of other violin transcriptions.

Elmar Oliveira won a gold medal in the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1978, the first American violinist to do so. In 1983 he won the Avery Fisher Prize, the first time it was ever awarded to a violinist. He also won first prize at the Naumburg International Competition. He has recorded for a variety of labels in wide-ranging repertoire, from Vivaldi to contemporary works. Mr. Oliveira was nominated for a Grammy for his recording of the Barber Violin Concerto with Leonard Slatkin and the St. Louis Symphony.

“Superior violin playing with a tonal lustre rarely matched in an attractive program of mostly familiar short pieces by
Brahms, Debussy, Ravel, Sarasate, etc.” — Billboard

“Spectacular playing in virtually every measure, proving that Oliveira is one of the great comers on the current musical scene.” — Bill Zakariasen, New York Daily News

“Oliveira has more than the requisite technique to bring this material alive… The violin sound is excellent and true, without the excessive reverberation one often hears on string recordings… a well-played recording of interesting repertoire.” — American Record Guide