From the start‚ and in most of the fast‚ brilliant caprices‚ Marco Rogliano draws a vivid‚ impressionistic portrait of Paganini‚ as though he’s taken as his model the Paganini presented in Schumann’s Carnaval. He’s recorded in a generous‚ lively acoustic‚ resulting in a romantic blurring of the outlines in some of the quickest music‚ but allowing him to play in a bold‚ forceful manner without the edge of harshness that might have appeared on a more clinical recording. When there’s some roughness of tone‚ in the extreme leaps in Caprice No 2‚ for example‚ the feeling of effort contributes positively to the music’s effect. Rogliano has some formidable assets as a Paganini player: stunning staccato bowing of every type‚ a superbly fluent‚ accurate left­hand technique‚ and persuasive musicianship – it’s clear he’s thought hard about how he’s going to present each caprice. He takes Caprice No 6‚ the fingered tremolo study‚ very slowly‚ the melody wonderfully smooth‚ the accompaniment densely shimmering. No 17 is played in a poised manner‚ more sweetly and gently than usual‚ and Rogliano also finds more musical substance in No 19 through a relaxed approach – it’s usually presented more humorously – with the middle section‚ fast and furious on the G string‚ sounding the more astounding by contrast. I wish he’d been as restrained in the amoroso operatic sixths in No 21 – why do violinists never think of playing this piece tenderly? All in all‚ Rogliano gives us one of the most impressive‚ persuasively interpreted accounts of this almost impossibly challenging music.